Excited to take part in the 2023 Britten Pears Arts Aldeburgh Festival!

Kreutzer Quartet and clarinettist Linda Merrick: two programmes including music by Sadie Harrison, David Matthews, Eleanor Alberga, David Horne, Michael Finnissy, Priaulx Rainier, Michael Finnissy, Mozart & Haydn:

https://brittenpearsarts.org/events/kreutzer-quartet-remember

https://brittenpearsarts.org/events/kreutzer-quartet-continuation

A real pleasure to work with the wonderful Macedonian pianist Petar Makarievski – he performed my piece “Ripples – Waves – Bells” in a concert given by his piano trio (also incluing Marjan Milosevski – bassoon, and Tatjana Petrusevska – oboe) last week in Skopje.

The concert was part of the Days of Macedonian Music 2023 festival, and also featured pieces by Kostadin Delinikolov, Goran Nacevski, Risto Avramovski, Tomislav Zografski, Filip Ivanov and Vanja Nikolovski – Gumar.

More information here: Piano Trio concert, DMM 2023

Recent reviews of my latest album Polychromy, released by Métier last November:

“This is fascinating, compelling music, brilliantly realized …”
Full review (Colin Clarke, Fanfare)

“Šarenilo for two violins stood out for its energy which grabbed my attention from the opening gesture, and Sandglass was a mesmerising and hypnotic work for solo clarinet. Overall, there is a really personal and curious musical voice. As an introduction to music from the small Balkan nation, this music is truly inviting, and I will explore more from the composer and nation with great intrigue.”
Full review (Ben Lunn, the Morning Star)

“… a challenging, but fascinating experience, and one that was rewarding … This is a very interesting and impressive album … Please listen with an open mind because I feel this is a very worthwhile and creative disc.”
Full review (Geoff Pearce, Classical Music Daily)

The album was included on both Apple Music’s New in Classical and TIDAL’s Avant Garden playlists.

British Violin Makers Association “Makers’ Day” – King’s Place, London

Wishing my dear friend and close collaborator Hajdi Elzeser a wonderful concert later today. Programme includes my Ripples-Waves-Bells:

St Davids Music Series, Baltimore
4th November 2022
St Davids Episcopalian Church
Baltimore
Camera and Sound, Paul Ritterhoff
Supported by: Research England/Knowledge Exchange/
Royal Academy of Music London
St Davids Music Series

With thanks to
Douglas Buchanan

Paul Ritterhoff

IV XI XXII

www.peter-sheppard-skaerved.com

Just arrived. Thank you to Joanna Jones the gorgeous artwork and to Métier – Divine Art Recordings Group for great design.

Official release in November, but for anyone interested, you can pre-order now here:

https://divineartrecords.com/…/mihailo-trandafilovski…/

Tonight in Korčula, Croatia: Peter Sheppard Skærved at the Korkyra Baroque Festival, presenting a programme of baroque pieces and two new works by Ivan Josip Skender and myself (premiere of Chaconne, written for him earlier this year):

Cover art – Joanna Jones.

With Neil Heyde, Roger Heaton, Hugh Millington, Saki Kato, Roderick Chadwick, Linda Merrick and Peter Sheppard Skaerved.

A glorious day – working with closest friends and collaborators: Peter Sheppard Skaerved, Roger Heaton, Neil Heyde, Hugh Millington, Saki Kato. Fantastic sound by Adaq Khan. It is truly an honour to have my music brought to life by these miraculous musicians.

April 17, 2022

I have just spent an inspiring and rejuvenating week in Skopje, where the contemporary music festival Days of Macedonian Music took place.

On 9th April, Meitar Ensemble (Talia Herzlich, Yoni Gotlibovich and Amit Dolberg) from Israel presented a colourful and dynamic programme by Israeli and Macedonian composers: Arik Shapira, Miroslav Spasov, Sotir Golabovski, Eli Korman, Yair Klartag and myself. Thrilling, virtuosic playing by Meitar. My piece ‘Opal’ was premered by Talia Herzlich, and she was fantastic – I could not have asked for a more commited approach and it was a captivating performance.

On 11th April, the Macedonian trio Triptych (piano 6 hands) gave a concert comprised of six new pieces, all written for them. Marija Vrskova, Elena Atanasovska and Sara Projkovska have started such an exciting project, and their playing was brilliant, individually and as a group – works by Damjan Temkov, Ana Pandevska, Darija Andovska, Bete Ilin, Filip Ivanov and my new piece ‘Saati’.

On 13th April, I participated in a panel discussion with fellow Macedonian composer Pande Shahov (also living in the UK) and the journalist / musicologist Angelina Dimovska. I am grateful for the opportunity to talk about my music, and the conversation touched on a number of wider issues regarding contemporary music – I found it stimulating and thought-provoking.

It was a week I will remember – just fantastic to be back in my home country and work with such amazing musicians.

DMM 2022 brochure

March 21, 2022

Kreutzer Quartet and composer Robert Saxton – after a great day recording his 3rd String Quartet in St Michael’s, Highgate:

March 6, 2022

Excited to work with the Swiss ensemble TaG!

My piece дисторзија – спектар (distortion – spectrum), will be performed next week by violist David Schnee in a concert titled “Balkan Express”, featuring composers from former Yugoslavia.

The programme also includes works by Brina Jež Brezavšček, Hanan Hadzajlić, Mirela Ivičević, Lara Stanić and Vinko Globokar.

More information here:

http://ensembletag.ch/konzerte/balkan-express

February 20, 2022

What a great day at King’s Place — a privilege to play so many wonderful instruments by contemporary British makers:

https://www.bvma.org.uk/makers-day

February 15, 2022

Fantastic performance of my new piece for two guitars at the Bechstein Room / Wigmore Hall:

Miyabi Duo – Bechstein Sessions

This wonderful concert also featured premieres of pieces by Stephen Balfour and Mat Martin.

Such a privilege to work with the amazing Miyabi Duo – Saki Kato and Hugh Millington. We are currently planning a recording session — watch this space!

January 24, 2022

Great to be back in the studio – recording David Matthews’ 15th Quartet – St John the Baptist, Aldbury

November 12, 2021

I just spent two exhilarating days recording with Peter Sheppard Skærved. Some of our favourite pieces: Bartók’s 44 duos, Scelsi’s Arc-en-Ciel, Peter’s own jewelled duos based on the field cricket and my recent Grain-Song, written for him. Fabulous sound by Adaq Khan – can’t wait until this album is ready. Here is a teaser (camera sound only!) – Bartok’s “Romanian Whirling Dance”:

October 23, 2021

Here is another review of my album Step(pe)s, recently released by Neuma Records. Great to hear it will likely appeal to jazz / rock audiences 🙂 :

“The result is an attractive CD of improvised sounding music. On ‘Step(pe)s’ Trandafilovski offers three tracks of solo violin. They all clock in at around 10 minutes and with the titles Orbit, Wave, Shore and a cover that implies a water surface (although I believe it is a CGI) bring the association of the play of water, an ebbing and flowing … Trandafilovski uses echos and over-dubs to create a multi-faceted and multi-layered music. All pieces start from quiet beginnings, build to a tremendous climax and ebb off again into a partly near-silent ending …”

http://www.vitalweekly.net/1305.html

October 21, 2021

Tonight: mavericks Peter Sheppard Skaerved and Roderick Chadwick present a programme full of colour and virtuosity at Goldsmiths – Edward Cowie’s monumental “Bird Portraits” and works by many other friends, as well as my latest piece for Peter, “Grain – Song”:

Peter Sheppard Skaerved and Roderick Chadwick and Goldsmiths

October 2021

Macedonian soprano Vesna Ginovska Ilkova and pianist Hajdi Elzeser will premiere my piece “Vnatresni Planini” (The Mountains Within), on the 19th October in Skopje, at the Philharmonic Hall.

It was thrilling to work on a new piece for these two great musicians – Hajdi is one of my closest collaborators, but I am working with Vesna for the first time. The piece is based on a poem by my friend Vladimir Martinovski.

The programme, titled “Ogledalo” (Mirror), also includes music by fellow Macedonian composers Golabovski and Dzambazov, as well as Bellini, Schumann, Giordano, Puccini and Mascagni.

August 2021

Here is a review and podcast of two recent Neuma Records releases – Juraj Kojs’s “Imagine” and my “Step(pe)s”:

“… Using diverse devices from the studio, [Trandafilovski] leaves the acoustical qualities as such intact in his mixing process but puts them in a new light. His constructions sound very abstract in one way but as they constantly point to the concrete sounds as the topic of his research, they are also very physical. The works are full of details and nuances, which makes concentrated listening to a very rewarding experience.”

http://www.vitalweekly.net/1298.html

July 16, 2021

Today, a very personal “lockdown project” I was immersed in for four months is released by Neuma Records.

I love live music and performing, and missed it a lot during the lockdowns. In the absence of this crucial aspect of my musical life, I had to find other ways to develop ideas.

Step(pe)s is a piece involving just one violin and computer – it started as an “audio catalogue” of various sounds and techniques that I like to explore, and gradually developed into the current form.

I am very happy to share it with you all.

With many thanks to:

Kate Beaugié for the beautiful image.

Erdem Helvacioglu for brilliant mastering.

United Music Publishing for their great work and support.

My Kreutzer Quartet friends, Peter Sheppard Skaerved, Clifton Harrison and Neil Heyde for long-term collaboration that has allowed me to explore these sounds and worlds.

Philip Blackburn @ Neuma for his openness and vision.

Neuma

Bandcamp

Digital Booklet

July 9, 2021

Coming up this Friday: Peter Sheppard Skærved at St Vedast Foster Lane. This concert is a part of Peter’s “Preludes and Vollonteries” series. The programme will include anonymous works from the Klagenfurt Manuscript (1685) and the Rost Codex (ca 1680-1688), plus the World Premiere of my piece “Song” (part of “Grain-Song”), written for Peter.
More information here: https://www.facebook.com/events/137142048480195?ref=newsfeed

May 28, 2021

From our recording session yesterday:

May 21, 2021

Today 5pm UK time – works by Anne Boyd and Tom Metcalf:

March 22, 2021

Wonderful to be back in the studio with my Kreutzer Quartet friends, clarinettist Linda Merrick and composer Martin Ellerby. Great day at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

Edward Cowie: One Second Fiddle

(A piece about Evolution for solo violin)

Mihailo Trandafilovski – violin

A couple of months ago, Edward Cowie e-mailed me to let me know he had had a dream in which he and I were walking in a wild estuarine habitat — he had a violin case with his old instrument, and in a conversation about music and nature, he told me that he’d had an idea for a new piece for me — so he took out his violin and played a piece that consisted of a ‘procession’ of ONE-SECOND pieces.

He remembered all the 55 one-second pieces the next day, and weaved them into a multi-dimensional work: a network combining evolution, virtuosity, silent gestures, non-verbal voice patterns, and other things …

This is a ‘live’ (one-take) lockdown performance — 7th February, 2021

December 29, 2020

Tonight at 19:00 UTC: online concert by Ensemble Horizonte – programme includes my “TRI-O” and music by Feldman, Jana Andreevska, Kiril Makedonski, J.P. Mittmann, M. E. Keller and J. Combier.
https://fb.me/e/3gVTGwhjy

December 2020

Three great musicians and friends: Peter Sheppard Skærved, Roderick Chadwick and Linda Merrick, recording my trio ‘Weaxan’ at the RNCM. Fabulous playing!!!

December 16, 2020

A wonderful day at the Royal Academy of Music: recording / filming works by Sadie Harrison, David Matthews, Peter Dickinson and Joel Järventausta, and working with composer Tom Metcalf:

November 25, 2020

Enjoying working with student composers in Oxford yesterday — exciting, challenging and very colourful mix of pieces!

November 2020

Coming soon:

October 3, 2020

Today: my friend and brilliant pianist Hajdi Elzeser performs in Detmold — works by Eggert, Delinikolov, Gesualdo, Pandevska, Jarret and my new ‘Intermezzo’, as part of the 11. Hörfest Neue Musik.

September 24, 2020

Tonight in Skopje: premiere of my string orchestra piece ‘Aquarelle (cycle)’ and music by Pande Shahov, Toma Proshev, Goran Nachevski and Risto Avramovski. Days of Macedonian music festival 2020. Chamber Orchestra of the Macedonian Philharmonic, conductor Sasho Tatarchevski. Gutted I couldn’t be there!

September 20, 2020

Peter Sheppard Skærved in his element — a magical evening in the ‘auditory’ of St Mary Abchurch.

It was just wonderful to finally experience again a living, breathing music event — Peter Sheppard Skærved weaving brilliantly music, words and magic. The programme included music by Vitali, Matteis, Colombi, Baltzar, Sainte Colombe, Vilsmayr, words by Anne Finch, Milton, Anne of Winchelsea and Pepys — and my most recent violin piece ‘Grain’ (written for Peter during lockdown), received a fantastic premiere.

Here are some of Peter’s thoughts after the event: After a Concert

And a Youtube link to the materials for the concert: Materials for ‘Preludes & Vollenteries’

June 2020

At the desk / Lockdown recording of my new solo violin piece ‘Grain’ – written for my friend, the brilliant Peter Sheppard Skærved:

April 2020

Edward Cowie: Three Quartets and a Solo (Métier)

Sunday Times: “Quietly frenetic textures act as skein-like support for more forthright material in Cowie’s First Quartet, Dungeness Nocturnes (1969), while the Second, Crystal Dances (1977), is dazzlingly faceted and the Sixth, The Four Winds (2012), reflects upon the winds and seasons. The Kreutzer Quartet’s leader, Peter Sheppard Skærved, give the virtuoso solo violin piece GAD (2017), written during an anxiety episode yet often surprisingly playful.” — Stephen Pettitt

MusicWeb International: “A remarkable new CD. The performances of these four works are ideal. Every bar suggests that violinist Peter Sheppard Skærved and the other members of the Kreutzer Quartet have a great empathy with this music and create a magical and engrossing performance. The musical language of this music is as diverse as its emotional background. The liner notes are impressive. They include the preparatory paintings Cowie made before starting work on his quartets. They are excellent and would grace any art collection. Let us hope that this is really an ongoing project.” — John France
Read more

______________________________________________________________________________

Peter Dickinson: Chamber and Solo Works (Toccata Classics)

Gramophone: “Magnificent playing and sound. A marvellous disc.”
Read more

February 20, 2020

A special and memorable evening: Neil Heyde and Rohan de Saram performing old and new music at the Holywell Music Room in Oxford. Music by Offenbach, Conrad Beck, Reinhold Glière, Richard Beaudoin and two premieres: David Gorton’s Caleuche Chasma and my Kaleidoscope – more info here: Music for Two Cellos: Old and New.

It is an honour and a privilege to be able to work with these maverick musicians. Here they are rehearsing, earlier in the day:

February 16, 2020

Fantastic day in Detmold, Germany, with my dear friend Hajdi Elzeser. She recorded ‘Ripples-Waves-Bells’, which she premiered in 2018, in the Brahms-Saal of the Detmold Hochschule. Wonderful playing, and great sound by Sascha Etezazi – the recording will be out soon.

February 11, 2020

Today we are working with student composers in Oxford:

String Quartet Composition Workshop

Looking forward to today!

February 4, 2020

Great performance by Ensemble Fractales at Flagey in Brussels for ECCO 2020. The programme included my piece ‘TRI-O’ (represening Macedonia), and works by Elis Hallik (Estonia), Charlotte Torres (Switzerland), Matti Heininen (Finland), Ryszard Lubieniecki (Poland), Vlad Razvan Baciu (Romania) and Johan Svensson (Sweden).

Here are a few photos that capture the atmosphere:

December 20, 2019

Excited to be included in the ECCO programme next February in Brussels, and looking forward to working with Ensemble Fractales!