“…the playing of the IPO under Stilian Kirov was consistently impressive—polished, strongly projected, and bristling with virtuosic energy. As Kirov begins his third season as music director, it is clear that the young maestro is taking his southwest suburban orchestra to a new and exciting level.”

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“…the playing of the IPO under Stilian Kirov was consistently impressive—polished, strongly projected, and bristling with virtuosic energy. As Kirov begins his third season as music director, it is clear that the young maestro is taking his southwest suburban orchestra to a new and exciting level.”

– Lawrence A. Johnson | Chicago Classical Review

First Prize Winner of the “Debut Berlin” Concert Competition, prizewinner at Denmark’s 2015 Malko Competition as well as the 2010 Mitropoulos Competition, Stilian Kirov made his debut at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2017. He is currently Music Director of the Illinois Philharmonic and the Bakersfield Symphony. A former Music Director of Symphony in C in New Jersey (2015-2020), he is also a recipient of numerous Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Awards (2016-2019).
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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, Mr. Kirov has collaborated with the symphonies of Seattle, Memphis, Chautauqua, Omaha, West Virginia as well as the Amarillo Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra/Breckenridge, and the Tucson Symphony and the Pacific Northwest Ballet.

Stilian Kirov assisted distinguished conductors such as the late Bernard Haitink with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as well as Stéphane Denève, the late Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Christoph von Dohnányi, and the late Andrew Davis, all with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Kirov is a graduate of The Juilliard School’s orchestral conducting program, where he was a student of James DePreist. He has 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.