Mischa Damev (born 1963 in Sofia) is a Bulgarian-Swiss orchestral conductor. He received his first musical training from his grandfather, the Bulgarian conductor Mihail Lefterov. When he was 10, his family moved from Bulgaria to Switzerland, where he studied piano at the

Hochschule für Musik A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

in Basel. He then studied with

Alexis Weissenberg Alexis Sigismund Weissenberg (; 26 July 1929 – 8 January 2012) was a Bulgarian-born French pianist. Early life and career Born into a Jewish family in Sofia, Weissenberg took piano lessons at three from Pancho Vladigerov, a Bulgarian composer ...

in Paris and

Nikita Magaloff Nikita Magaloff (; 26 December 1992) was a Georgia (country), Georgian-Russian pianist. He was born in Saint Petersburg to a Georgian noble family named Maghalashvili. Magaloff and his family left Russia in 1918 for Finland. His musical interes ...

in Geneva. On the advice of

Mariss Jansons Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons (14 January 1943 – 1 December 2019) was a Latvian Conducting, conductor, best known for his interpretations of Gustav Mahler, Mahler, Richard Strauss, Strauss, and Russian composers such as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, ...

, he gave up his career as a concert pianist to become a conductor.Biography on Mariinsky.ru
/ref> He has had a highly successful international career, debuting with the

Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra The Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra ( Bulgarian: Симфоничен оркестър на Българското национално радио) is a Bulgarian radio orchestra based in Sofia, Bulgaria Sofia is the Capital cit ...

and spending some time as an assistant to

Georges Prêtre Georges Prêtre (; 14 August 1924 – 4 January 2017) was a French orchestral and opera conductor. Biography Prêtre was born in Waziers ( Nord), and attended the Douai Conservatory and then studied harmony under Maurice Duruflé and conduct ...

and

Vladimir Fedoseyev Vladimir Ivanovich Fedoseyev (; born 5 August 1932, in Leningrad, Soviet Union) is a Soviet and Russian conductor, accordionist, teacher. People's Artist of the USSR (1980). Laureate of the USSR State Prize (1989) and the Glinka State Prize of ...

. From 1990 to 1999, he was the first artistic director of the

Orpheum Foundation for the Advancement of Young Soloists Orpheum is a name often used for theatres or other entertainment venues. It may refer to: Theatres *Orpheum Circuit, a chain of vaudeville and movie theaters Australia * Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, Cremorne, Sydney, New South Wales Canada *Or ...

in Zurich. From 1992 to 2007, he was director of the Lilienberg Foundation piano festival. Since 2000, he has been a trustee of the

International Master Prize Competition for Contemporary Symphonic Music International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

in London. Since 2007, he has been director of the Kulturprozent-Classics program of the Swiss retail company

Migros Migros () is Switzerland's largest retail company, its largest supermarket chain and largest employer. It is also one of the forty largest retailers in the world. It is structured in the form of a cooperative federation (the Federation of Migros ...

. In addition to his promotion of young artists, he maintains a busy conducting schedule in Russia and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and China. He has also collaborated with John Lord of the rock band

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

References

See also