Stefanija Leshkova - Zelenkovska

Two Macedonian conductors: Sasha Nikolovski - Gjumar and Borjan Canev

        The art of conducting has been a tradition in Macedonia for several decades. From a historical point of view, the resarch on the evolution of the practice of conducting takes us back to the beginning of the 19th century, when church choirs were formed.
        As a direct outcome of the formation of numerous school and town choirs, as well as instrumental ensembles, Macedonian music life notes an upsurge during the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Therefore, a need for the professional development of music arose. The last two decades of the century mark special progress in the introduction of western European music literacy, mostly in the larger towns where music high schools existed (Ortakov: 1962).
        The composer Atanas Badev was the most prominent professional musician at the time (Golabovski: 1984). Badev passed on the knowledge he received at the Music Academy in Moscow mainly through his teaching activities. The choral ensembles he organised in the schools he worked possessed a high level of concert interpretation (Todorchevska: 2003). Badev enriched the repertoire of these choirs with works by Russian and western European composers, as well as with his own compositions and harmonisations of folk songs (Ortakov: 1982). These activities strongly influenced the activities of his students (Nikola Janishliev’s choral activities were especially successful). Before the Balkan Wars, as teachers and choral conductors, they contributed greatly to the prosperity of Macedonian music literacy and culture.
        The number of singing ensembles and choirs increased during the period between the two world wars. These groups became the core of music life in Macedonia. One of the reasons the amateur choirs developed was the opportunity to perform harmonised Macedonian folk songs in the mother language, which was a prohibited language of use in the other spheres of public life (Ortakov: 1982). It is at this time that the first educated musicians-composers appeared, who also worked as conductors: Stefan Gajdov, Zhivko Firfov, Trajko Prokopiev, Todor Skalovski.
        The first conductors in Macedonia appeared after World War II and as a result of the formation of the first symphony orchestras (between 1944 and 1953). During this half-century period, a large number of domestic artists took up conducting and contributed to the growth of conducting on a professional level. Let us mention several names: Todor Skalovski (founder and longtime director of the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra), Trajko Prokopiev, Lovro Matachich, Kiril Spirovski, Angel Shurev, Vancho Chavdarski, Tomislav Shopov, Aleksandar Lekovski and Fimcho Muratovski, the latter especially notable for his position as first professor at the Faculty of Music in Skopje.
        The opening of the department of orchestral conducting at the Faculty of Music in 1969 created the opportunity of educating professional conductors for the first time in Macedonia. So far, 13 students have graduated from this department. Four conductors from the younger generation have achieved notable results: Sasha Nikolovski - Gjumar (1966), Vanja Nikolovski - Gjumar (1968), Oliver Balaburski (1969) and Borjan Canev (1973).
        They have all individually influenced the Macedonian art of conducting through their activities in the field of domestic symphony, opera and chamber scenes. Their activities carry several mutual characteristics:

- graduated at the Faculty of Music in Skopje, under the instruction of professor Fimcho Muratovski
- they all began working with the student orchestras at FMU and at Macedonia Jeunesses Musicales
- gained recognition through their work with the Philarmonic Orchestra
- specialised in developed European music centres
- took an active part in domestic renowned festivals
- realised their first live recordings with the MRTV production

        The brothers Sasha and Vanja Nikolovski - Gjumar and Borjan Canev have another common feature: they all come from famous music families. Their fathers, Mihajlo Nikolovski (1934 - 1994) and Blagoj Canev (1937) were esteemed Macedonian composers and longtime professors at the Faculty of Music.
        From the mentioned four conductors, two - Oliver Balaburski and Vanja Nikolovski - Gjumar at the moment live and work in Canada and the USA. Thus, this text will present only two conductors - Sasha Nikolovski - Gjumar and Borjan Canev, as musicians who characterise the scene of conducting in Macedonia.
        The conductor Sasha Nikolovski - Gjumar graduated in 1993. In 1996 he specialised at the “Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov” Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia, under the guidance of the eminent pedagogues Ilja Musin and Mihail Kukushkin, whereas he also collaborated with Yuri Temirkanov and Valeri Gergiev. During his stay in Russia, he worked with the symphony orchestra of the Conservatory. In the year 1999  Nikolovski completed his postgraduate studies in orchestral and opera  conducting under the guidance of professor Vasil Kazandziev and professor Bobi Hinchev at the Music Academy “Pancho Vladigerov” in Sofia, Bulgaria.

        The conductor Borjan Canev graduated in 1997. The following year, Canev completed his postgraduate studies at the same music academy as Nikolovski, in Sofia, under the guidance of professor Vasil Kazandziev and Ivan Vulpe. After three years, Borjan Canev received a Post Graduate Diploma at the Royal College of Music in London, specialising with Neil Thomson, John Carewe and Edwin Roxburgh; he was also pronounced best young conductor in 2001. During his stay in London, in 2000-2001 Canev visited master-classes and meetings with conductors Janos Furst, Daniele Gatti and Sir Simon Rattle. He worked as assistant-conductor with Sir Colin Davis on Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni” with the Royal Opera School Orchestra. In October, 2001, within the Sir Colin Davis’s master-class, Borjan Canev conducted the London Symphony Orchestra, as one of the five conductors invited from around the world. He won the August Manns Prize for Conducting at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London. He is also founder of the International Chamber Orchestra in London, consisting of RCM musicians.
        Along with the process of perfecting their skills, the conductors Sasha Nikolovski and Borjan Canev took an active part in the pedagogical, opera, and symphonic segments of the art of conducting in Macedonia.

        Sasha Nikolovski was employed in FMU in 1994 as an assistant and later as a professor in the subjects of orchestral and choral conducting. He has been continuously present on the opera and symphony scenes by working with the two largest orchestras - the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Macedonian Opera Orchestra.
        Since 1999 Borjan Canev has worked as a permanent conductor of the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra, and in 2002 he was appointed assistant  professor at the UKIM Faculty of Music in Skopje.
        Sasha Nikolovski - Gjumar is noted for his exceptionally active and far-reaching role as a conductor. Apart from working as a pedagogue, he has achieved success in conducting music from a wide range of genres - symphony, opera, ballet, chamber and choral music. His repertoire counts about 300 pieces from all music periods.
        As guest conductor of the Macedonian Philharmonic, Sasha Nikolovski has conducted over 30 premiere performances of works by Macedonian and world composers: Symphony - Concertante, Prokofyev, The Planets - Holst, Requiem - Cerubini, Serenade - Britten. He has collaborated with renowned domestic and foreign performance artists, such as: Simon Trpcheski, Ljubisha Kirovski, Oleg Kondratenko, Ramzi Yasa, Philipes Xavier, Amir Tebenikhin, Aiman Musahodjaeva, etc.
        As guest conductor of the Macedonian Opera ensemble, Sasha Nikolovski - Gjumar has conducted a large number of opera performances: the resetting of Carmen, followed by La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Rigoletto, Un Ballo in Maschera, Nabucco, Aida, Madame Butterfly, La Boheme, Pique Dame, Cavalleria Rusticana, Tosca, etc. The ballet Ana Karenina by Tschaikovsky - which had its premiere world performance in Skopje in 2003, is of special significance to Nikolovski’s repertoire.
        Sasha Nikolovski has also conducted the Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, the State Musical Academy Symphony Orchestra in Sofia and the Symphony Orchestra of RT Sarajevo. He has continued working with the Macedonia Jeunesses Musicales Chamber Orchestra where he has been artistic director and main conductor for the past ten years. In 1995, he founded the International Synthesis Orchestra, and he still conducts it. In 2001, SOKOM (Macedonian Composers’ Association) awarded him the Georgi Bozhikov Award for the concert with the St.Sofia ensemble. Sasha Nikolovski has recorded four compact disks.
        Borjan Canev’s work as a conductor has flourished with his activities with the Macedonian Philharmonic and its Chamber Orchestra. He has given numerous concerts with these orchestras, at home and abroad (Croatia, France, Turkey). His repertoire counts around 300 concerts, symphonic and chamber works from all music periods: all of Beethoven’s concertos and symphonies, all of Brahms’s symphonies, works by Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Grieg, Bruckner, Mahler, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, etc. In Macedonia he has performed many premieres of works from Macedonian and world composers. He has collaborated with many renowned Macedonian and foreign artists, including Leonid Pejsahov, Stojan Dimov, Oleg Kondratenko, Peter Lucas-Graf, David Walter, Shefika Kutluer, Anton Dikov, Pavel Vernikov etc. Apart from performing with Macedonian orchestras, Borjan Canev has conducted with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, The Stanislav Binichki Symphony Orchestra in Belgrade, the Chamber Orchestra Colegium-Musicum “Bankja”, the State Academy Symphony Orchestra-Sofia, etc. This season he has been invited to take part in two new projects with the Sofia Philharmonic and the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra. Borjan Canev has recorded four compact disks.
        Sasha Nikolovski - Gjumar and Borjan Canev have taken active participation in the most distinguished Macedonian festivals: Ohrid Summer Festival, Skopje Summer Festival, Days of Macedonian Music and Heraclean Evenings - Bitola.
        At the very end, we shall present the criticism of the performances of these two artists, as the best way to illustrate their great achievements:

Sasha Nikolovski - Gjumar:

“... Sasha Nikolovski is no longer our future in conduction - he is the present time which all our professional ensembles should rely on...” (M.Kolovski, Macedonian Radio, August, 1994)

“... I am truly proud to have had the opportunity of hearing and experiencing your Philharmonic. At first, congratulations to the conductor Sasha Nikolovski for the ultimately successful direction of the instrumental group, and then also congratulations to the piano soloist Darko Kostovski and the musicians. I thank you for the great pleasure you have presented to us” - Marin Goleminov, one of the largest contemporary Bulgarian figures, after the Macedonian Philharmonic performance in Sofia, Bulgaria (I.Tasev, Dnevnik, June, 1999)

“... This dynamic conductor portrayed an airy improvisation of Prokofyev’s tragic and romantic tale, surpassing his own emotions, sacrificing the essence of the piece in order to shake the foundations of the means of expression...” (T.Ivanova, Utrinski Vesnik, 19.02.2000)

“... This Carmen will be remembered by the outstanding preparedness of the orchestra, which, by following Sasha Nikolovski’s emphasised creative energy, managed to give a performance full of dramatic tension on the outside, full of gradation, and the ability of the orchestra to portray the character of the action...” (R.Nolcheva, Vest, 25 December, 2002)

“... The performance of the Don Giovanni overture sounded haughty, subtle, at times sufficiently powerful, without the pretentiousness of the instrumental groups. Maestro Sasha Nikolovski - Gjumar mastered the orchestra during the entire concert...” (E.Novakovska, Dnevnik, 27 June, 2003)

Borjan Canev:

“... This time, the attention of the audience was mostly concentrated on the young and promising conductor Borjan Canev. He has shown all the qualities needed for a successful international career, with his excellent inner temperament leading the orchestra. The rehearsals clearly showed that the young Macedonian conductor knew how to gain their attention ? they were motivated to work on the high degree of interpretation...” (A.Abadjiev - musicologist, Sofia, 21 January, 1999)

“... The real artistic discovery was the 25 year-old conductor Borjan Canev from Macedonia with the Symphony Orchestra “Stanislav Binichki”, Belgrade. The very young Borjan, who has gained his MA degree in Sofia, conducted difficult scores by Beethoven and Brahms by heart, something that Belgrade has only seen by the eminent maestro Tabakov. Brahms’s Second Symphony showed the suggestiveness and high musical feelings of the conductor, followed by a wonderful and vast overflow of feelings and strong dynamic shades, breaking from the composer’s melancholy and passion, and transformed into beautiful dialogues of wind and string...” (G.Krajanic, Belgrade, “Blic”, 8 March, 1999)

“... The entire concert has shown that Macedonian people have the right to be proud of their young musicians whom they trusted to perform their first concert in Croatia. In that sense, the conductor Borjan Canev is as young as the soloist Kondratenko and similarly confident in his performance. The Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra placed all its trust in their young conductor with an enormous belief that he would represent them in an excellent fashion, which became obvious on the three day tour in Croatia...” (B.Pofuk, “Jutarnji List”, Zagreb, 19 July, 2000)

“... Borjan has shown to be a conductor of real talent and artistic personality. He has a good technique, thorough rehearsal skills and the ability to influence an orchestra immediately by his presence. He is also a person of integrity and good character...” (prof. N.Thomson, Royal College of Music, London, 2 July, 2001).
 
 

Bibliography:

1. Golabovski, Sotir. 1984. Traditional and Experimental Macedonian Music. Skopje: Macedonian Revue
2. Todorchevska, Jelica. 2003. Chronicle of Music Events in Macedonia from 1874 to 1999. Muzika, year 7, no. 10, pg. 107-128.
3. Ortakov, Dragoslav. 1982. Music Art in Macedonia. Skopje: Macedonian Revue.