Biography

Born in the Republic of Macedonia in 1979, pianist Simon Trpčeski is a graduate of the School of Music at the University of Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius in Skopje, where he studied with Boris Romanov. He was previously named a BBC New Generation Artist and was honored with the Young Artist Award by the Royal Philharmonic Society in 2003. In 2009, the President of Macedonia honored him with the Presidential Order of Merit for Macedonia, a decoration given to foreign and domestic dignitaries responsible for the affirmation of Macedonia abroad. Most recently, in September 2011, Mr. Trpčeski became the first ever recipient of the title National Artist of the Republic of Macedonia.

Mr. Trpčeski’s 2017-18 season includes performances with the Saint Louis Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Philharmonia Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. He also continues a multi-year residency for Wigmore Hall and appears in recital at the Meany Center for the Performing Arts in Seattle. He made his SFS debut in 2004.

Mr. Trpčeski has recorded on EMI Classics, Avie Records, Onyx Classics, and Wigmore Hall Live. His first recording, released in 2002, featured works by Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Stravinsky, and Prokofiev, and received both the Editor’s Choice and Debut Album awards at the Gramophone Awards. His interpretations of Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic were recognized with Classic FM, Gramophone Editor’s Choice, and Diapason d’Or distinctions in 2010 and 2011. His March 2012 recital at Wigmore Hall was released on the Wigmore Hall Live label, and was hailed by The Telegraph as Classical CD of the Week.

A recording featuring Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra was released in 2014 on the Onyx Classics label, and another Wigmore Hall Live album featuring works by Brahms, Ravel, and Poulenc was released in 2016. His most recent recording—released by Onyx Classics in June 2017—revives his much-heralded collaboration with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and features Prokofiev’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3 together with the Overture on Hebrew Themes.

Mr. Trpčeski also performs chamber music at the Aspen, Verbier, Risor, Bergen, and the Baltic Sea festivals. He recently launched a new project called Makedonissimo featuring arrangements of Macedonian folk music by Pande Shaov for piano, clarinet, violin, cello, and percussion. The project debuted at the Ludwigsburg Festival and Ljubljana Festival, with additional performances being planned for future seasons.

With the special support of KulturOp—Macedonia’s leading cultural and arts organization—and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Trpčeski works regularly with young musicians in Macedonia to cultivate the talent of the country’s next generation of artists. He makes his home in Skopje with his family.

(March 2018)