Biography
Svet Stoyanov, a Bulgarian American percussionist and educator, has earned recognition for his sensitivity, fluidity, and understated virtuosity while championing contemporary composition through numerous commissions of concertos, solos, and chamber works. Born in Bulgaria, he began percussion studies at age ten and, following his high-school graduation in Pleven, moved to Baltimore near the end of the 1990s to work with Robert van Sice at the Peabody Conservatory. He finished his bachelor’s degree there in 2003, the same year he claimed first prize in the Concert Artists Guild International competition. In 2005 he earned a master’s degree at Yale, again under van Sice’s tutelage. His first commercial recording, Percussive Counterpoint, appeared in 2008 and included his own transcription of Reich’s Electric Counterpoint alongside other recent pieces. Stoyanov joined the faculty of Miami University’s Frost School of Music in 2009; six years later he received tenure and was named director and associate professor of percussion studies. The 2014 release Paul Lansky: Textures & Threads drew strong critical praise. When van Sice established The Percussion Collective in 2018, Stoyanov became a founding member; the group has since performed throughout Europe and China and introduced Christopher Theofanidis’ Drum Circles Concerto with the Oregon Symphony. Additional partnerships have linked him with flutist Jennifer Grim, the Miami Saxophone Quartet, and the Manhattan Transfer. In 2023 he joined Matthew Strauss, Robert Spano, and the Houston Symphony Orchestra on the album Jennifer Higdon: Duo Duel; Concerto for Orchestra. He remains deeply engaged with The Percussion Collective, maintains an active solo schedule, and continues his work at the Frost School of Music.
Albums
