Interviews

All the Seen and Heard Interviews

Gregor Tassie in conversation with conductor Viliana Valtcheva

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Conductor Viliana Valtcheva talks with Gregor Tassie

Viliana Valtcheva © Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra

Bulgaria’s music is best known for its magnificent choirs and the never-ending stream of singers who have become celebrated in the world’s most famous opera theatres. Boris Christov, Ghena Dimitrova, Lyuba Welitsch, Nicolai Ghiaurov, and Sonya Yoncheva are just a few Bulgarians who have become stars on the world stage.

There is a distinguished school of instrumentalists, but relatively few conductors, with one major exception in the brilliant Emil Tchakarov, who became legendary during a relatively brief period, until his death at the early age of 43 in Paris. A prodigy of Karajan, Tchakarov was renowned at the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Mariinsky Theatre, among many others. Mravinsky picked him as his successor before his early death in 1991.

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John Quinn talks to Three Choirs Festival CEO David Francis

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A strong tradition and a bright future. David Francis, CEO of the Three Choirs Festival in conversation with John Quinn

David Francis © Joseph Wong/TCF

The Three Choirs Festival is almost certainly the oldest music festival in the world: it can trace its origins back to around 1715. The Festival began as an annual gathering, lasting just a couple of days, of the Musical Societies of the cathedral cities of Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester; the respective cathedral choirs were part of these societies and sang services, accompanied by an orchestra, during the gatherings. From the outset, each of the three cities took it in turn to host the annual get-togethers. The gatherings gradually widened in scope and duration. Nowadays, the Festival runs for a week and includes a wide variety of concerts, recitals, talks and social events.

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Gregor Tassie in conversation with soprano Eleonora Djodjoska-Mladenova

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Soprano Eleonora Djodjoska-Mladenova talks with Gregor Tassie

Soprano Eleonora Djodjoska-Mladenova as Violetta Valéry in La traviata © Svetoslav Nikolov

One highlight of the 2025 Wagner Festival in Sofia was the debut of young soprano Eleonora Djodjoska-Mladenova, who delivered a sensational Elisabeth in Plamen Kartaloff’s new Tannhäuser (review here). From first stepping on the stage, she seemed born for this role of an innocent girl falling in love. The singer from Northern Macedonia was acclaimed as an outstanding new star of the Sofia Opera. In 2026, reflecting Kartaloff’s trust, she was cast as the tragedienne Violetta Valéry — a role she triumphed in. Shortly after her La traviata debut (review here), I met with her to discuss her career to date.

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Conductor David Robertson in conversation with Geoffrey Newman

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Geoffrey Newman talks to conductor David Robertson

David Robertson © Chris Lee

Californian David Robertson rose to prominence in 1993 upon his selection by Pierre Boulez to lead the Ensemble Intercontemporain (EIC) in Paris for his ability to bring striking clarity and line to the most complex modernist scores. His further contribution was incorporating ‘minimalism’ and, in particular, the works of John Adams into the EIC repertoire. Robertson subsequently became principal conductor of Orchestre Nationale de Lyon (2000-2004), the St. Louis Symphony (2005-2018) and the Sydney Symphony (2014-2019). His current appointment is Director of Conducting Studies, Distinguished Visiting Faculty at the Juilliard School.

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Melissa Smey, Executive Director of Columbia University’s Miller Theater, in conversation with Daniele Sahr

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Executive Director of Columbia University’s Miller Theater Melissa Smey talks to Daniele Sahr

Melissa Smey, Executive Director of Miller Theater © Adrienne Stortz

Melissa Smey, the Executive Director of Miller Theater at Columbia University, brings her collaborative spirit and production expertise to putting on some of the best music series in New York City. It might take listeners a few extra subway stops to make it uptown, but the artistic excellence they will find cannot be overstated. I got to speak to Melissa Smey in this 26th season of their signature series, ‘Composer Portraits’, about the curatorial process and her take on what makes contemporary music welcoming to audiences.

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Illustrator and animator Grégoire Pont in conversation with Gregor Tassie

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Gregor Tassie talks to visual artist Grégoire Pont

Grégoire Pont © Ugo Ponte

One of the unexpected highlights of the George Enescu International Festival was a Sunday matinee concert of French music for children at the charming Odeon Hall (review here). If the music by Poulenc and Ravel was well known, the artwork by the French illustrator Grégoire Pont was a pleasant surprise.

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Mark Jordan in conversation with conductor Dalia Stasevska about her return to the Cleveland Orchestra

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Questions on the road for conductor Dalia Stasevska

Dalia Stasevska © Veikko Kahkonen

Ukrainian-born Finnish conductor Dalia Stasevska (currently principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra) will be returning to conduct the Cleveland Orchestra 20-23 November in a program that features Dvořák’s ‘New World’ Symphony and La Noche de los Mayas by Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas. Busy schedules prohibited the conductor and Seen and Heard International critic Mark Sebastian Jordan from finding an ideal time to speak in person, so they devised a correspondence interview that would allow Stasevska to work on her answers whenever she found a stray moment between family, study, rehearsals, performances and travel.

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