Heralded by critics as “a musician of real depth, sensitivity, and authority,” Danail Rachev recently concluded his eight year tenure as Music Director of the Eugene Symphony, where he was recognized for broadening the orchestra’s audiences, showcasing compositions by leading composers of today, and commissioning world premieres of works by Mason Bates, Osvaldo Golijov, Robert Kyr, Roberto Sierra, and Tomas Svoboda.

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In North America, Mr. Rachev has conducted The Philadelphia Orchestra, the symphonies of Alabama, Baltimore, Dallas, Edmonton, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Grand Rapids, Nashville, Richmond, Spokane, Tucson, the Westchester Philharmonic, Florida Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and Las Vegas Philharmonic, among others. He has collaborated with such celebrated soloists as Emanuel Ax, Sarah Chang, Angela Hewitt, Yo-Yo Ma, Midori, Garrick Ohlsson, Itzhak Perlman, and the late André Watts. Worldwide engagements include the Auckland Philharmonia, Bournemouth Symphony, Het Gelders Orkest, Philharmonia Orchestra/London, London Philharmonic, Orquestra Nacional do Porto, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Russe State Opera of Bulgaria, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony, Turkey’s Presidential Symphony, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Japan, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, which he led on tour in the summer of 2013.

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As Assistant Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra (2008-2010) and the Dallas Symphony (2005-2008), Danail Rachev led numerous public concerts and educational programs. Of his Dallas Symphony subscription series debut, the Dallas Morning News wrote: “One of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s best concerts of the past year…from start to finish, assistant conductor Danail Rachev got the music unfailingly right, and made it viscerally compelling.”

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Previously, Rachev served as conductor of the Juilliard Pre-College Symphony (2002-2005), where he mentored young musicians who continued on to top-level conservatories throughout the world. He has also served on the faculties of the Russian Opera Workshop in Philadelphia and the Varna Music Academy in his native Bulgaria.

Danail Rachev trained at the State Musical Academy in Sofia, receiving degrees in orchestral and choral conducting. Granted a full scholarship, he moved to the United States to continue his studies at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Mr. Rachev was a conducting fellow at the American Academy of Conducting in Aspen and a participant in the League of American Orchestra’s National Conducting Institute, which led to his debut with the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. The first-ever conducting fellow of the New World Symphony, he studied with Michael Tilson Thomas and worked alongside him on many occasions. Other teachers have included Gustav Meier, Vassil Kazandjiev, David Zinman, and Leonard Slatkin.