The composer and conductor Simeon Pironkoff, Junior, was born in Sofia. His father was the great Bulgarian composer Simeon Pironkoff. When he was 20 years old he moved to Vienna, where he continued his education and where he currently lives. His work as a conductor and composer is extremely prolific and varied. He participates in numerous projects in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Austria ..., he conducts opera productions, orchestras and recordings of contemporary music, he founded the ensemble on_line (1992, PHACE since 2010). Pironkoff takes part in prestigious international festivals throughout Europe and his works are performed by leading groups and performers. He passes on his experience to students at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, and he also leads master classes in Europe, Japan, Taiwan, etc.
This author’s programme of Simeon Pironkoff includes works where the accordion plays a key role. This instrument is not widely used in the musical practice of contemporary music, but in recent years it has established itself as a standard instrument highly sought by contemporary composers. In the selected pieces in this programme it is used along with the flute, clarinet, cello, percussions and the ancient Chinese instrument sheng. The music is very interesting and in the words of the composer it is “… a unique (and original) ‘sound panorama’ and ‘sound portrait’ of an expanded instrument.” The accordionist Krassimir Sterev successfully presents to us this “sound portrait” and the rest of the performers, all of them well-known musicians, are his perfect partners.