Theodosii Spassov
KAVAL (Bulgarian wooden flute)

Theodosii Spassov was born in 1961. He began his early training on the kaval at the Filip Kutev National School of Folk Arts in Kotel and the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The kaval, an eight-hole wooden shepherd’s flute, is one of the oldest instruments in Europe, rich in tone and technical possibilities. Theodosii Spassov has developed his own unique style of playing the instrument by synthesizing traditional folklore with jazz, fusion and classical music.

For over 20 years, Theodosii has toured all over Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, Canada and United States. In 1994, he performed with Sofia Women's Radio Choir which was awarded with a Grammy award for ‘Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares’. In April 1995, Newsweek magazine recognized Theodosii Spassov as one of the most talented Eastern-European musicians in its Best of the East article, noting that "Spassov… is not merely surviving the post-communist cultural wasteland. He has actually invented a new musical genre."

Theodosii Spassov has recorded 10 solo albums and has contributed to 11 albums by fellow artists, which have been noted worldwide. He has composed and performed numerous film scores including the French-Bulgarian feature film ‘Granitza’, (‘The Border’) in 1993. He has also recorded themes for films by Italian composers Carlos Siliotto and Ennio Morricone (‘An Italian Story’ and ‘The Breakout of the Innocent’).

At home in Bulgaria, Theodosii Spassov is a national figure and musical hero, and was recently honored with the Music Artist of the Year award. He is Artistic Director of the world-renowned Filip Kutev National Folk Song & Dance Ensemble

Fellow artists Theodosii has worked with: Jazz Linia, Trio ‘Bulgarka’, Dave Liebman, Dimitrios Vassilakis, Andy Sheppard, Yldiz Ibrahimova, Ennio Morricone, Jamey Haddad, Vesselin Nikolov, Albert Mangelsdorf, Mark Johnson, Ivo Papazov, Trilok Gurtu, Radio Sofia Orchestras, Kazumi Watanabe, Acoustic Version, Glen Velez, ‘Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares’, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Milcho Leviev, Dionisis Savopulos

Concerts as a soloist in: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Germany, Greece, Holland, India, Israel, Japan, Nepal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States