Stilian Krov became the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra’s (IPO) Gibb Music Director for the orchestra's 2017–2018 Season. He is a First Prize Winner of the “Debut Berlin” Concert Competition and a prizewinner at Denmark’s 2015 Malko Competition and the 2010 Mitropoulos Competition. Kirov debuted at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2017 and has received numerous Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Awards (2016–2019). A former Music Director of New Jersey’s Symphony in C (2015–2020), Kirov became Music Director of the Bakersfield Symphony in 2015. Mr. Kirov has proven to be not only a dynamic artistic director, but also an enthusiastic educator and community leader, continuing to build upon his previous successes as Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony and Associate Conductor of the Memphis Symphony.
Highlights of Mr. Kirov’s guest performances include appearances worldwide with the Israel Camerata, Xi'An Symphony, Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra, Sofia Philharmonic, Leopolis Chamber Orchestra/Ukraine, Orchestra of Colors/Athens, Orchestre Colonne/Paris, Sofia Festival Orchestra, State Hermitage Orchestra/St. Petersburg, Thüringen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Zagreb Philharmonic, the Musical Olympus International Festival in St. Petersburg, and the Victoria Symphony/British Columbia, among others.
In the United States., Kirov has collaborated with the symphonies of Seattle, Memphis, Chautauqua, Omaha, Kalamazoo, South Bend, and West Virginia as well as the Amarillo Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra/Breckenridge, and the Tucson Symphony. Following his highly acclaimed debut in 2012, he also appeared regularly as guest conductor with the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle.
Stilian Kirov has assisted many distinguished conductors including the late Bernard Haitink with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as well as Stéphane Denève, the late Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Andrew Davis, all with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Kirov is a graduate of The Juilliard School’s orchestral conducting program, where he was a student of James DePreist. He also studied with the late Kurt Masur, Michael Tilson Thomas, the late Gianluigi Gelmetti, George Manahan, Robert Spano, and Asher Fisch, among others.
Also a gifted pianist, Stilian Kirov was Gold Medalist of the 2001 Claude Kahn International Piano Competition in Paris.