Simon Trpčeski

Simon Trpceski maintains a calendar that includes numerous solo recitals and chamber appearances, yet his touring commitments lean heavily toward concerto engagements, frequently those posing formidable technical obstacles from Liszt, Rachmaninov, and Prokofiev. He displays particular boldness when programming demanding scores for landmark debuts, such as the Prokofiev Third at his 2010 Carnegie Hall appearance, and when promoting lesser-known works by living Macedonian composers including Pande Shahov and Zivojin Glisic. In addition to welcoming these tests, he functions as a perceptive interpreter capable of shifting fluidly across the idioms of many different composers. Within Macedonia he has attained near pop-star recognition while continuing to perform regularly throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand and to issue a succession of widely praised recordings.

Born in Skopje, Macedonia, on September 18, 1979, Trpceski completed his studies at the University of St. Cyril and St. Methodius, where Boris Romanov served as his principal teacher. He made his London debut at Wigmore Hall in 2001 and held the position of BBC New Generation Artist through 2003. After graduating from St. Cyril and St. Methodius University in 2002 he released his first EMI album, devoted to works by Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, and Scriabin; the recording earned strong critical approval and received both Editor’s Choice and Debut Album honors from Gramophone.

In 2004 he appeared for the first time with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in Saint-Saëns’ Second Concerto, and the following year he made his initial New York Philharmonic appearance in a widely admired performance of the Rachmaninov Third. Further milestones arrived in 2006 with debuts alongside the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. Although he maintains teaching responsibilities at St. Cyril and St. Methodius University, Trpceski sustains an intensive schedule that takes him across North America, Europe, East Asia, and Australia. During the 2009-2010 season he toured Europe with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Maazel and with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic conducted by Jaap van Zweden.

Beyond his EMI catalog, Trpceski has recorded for Onyx, Wigmore Hall Live, BIS, Linn, and Avie. His 2010 Avie release of the Rachmaninov Second and Third Concertos entered the Top Ten of Billboard’s Classical Chart. In 2020 he partnered with Eldbjørg Hemsing on a BIS recording of Grieg violin sonatas and issued the album Makedonissimo on Linn.

In 2009 Macedonian President H.E. Gjorge Ivanov conferred upon him the Presidential Order of Merit, making Trpceski at that time the youngest recipient of the distinction in the nation’s history.