Our last concert for this season features Bulgarian pianist Dr. Zahari Metchkov, Assistant Professor of Music at CSU-Pueblo. Both a pianist and an organist, Dr. Metchkov has performed at such venues as New York’s Avery Fisher Hall and Washington’s Kennedy Center. He has concertized in Israel, Bulgaria, and the United States and holds three degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music. In this highly interesting program of French Impressionistic music, Dr. Metchkov will perform and discuss the works of Debussy, Ravel, and Messiaen. He will be joined by violinist Geoffrey Herd in a performance of the Ravel Violin Sonata.
About Dr. Zahari Metchkov
Both a pianist and an organist, Dr. Zahari Metchkov has performed at such venues as New York’s
Avery Fisher Hall and Washington’s Kennedy Center. He has concertized in Israel, Bulgaria, and the
United States. Dr. Metchkov released his first CD in 2008 – a recording of works for piano and orchestra
by Franz Liszt and Cesar Franck. Native of Sofia, Bulgaria, Dr. Metchkov holds BM in piano and organ
performance, MM in piano performance, and DMA in piano performance with a minor in music theory
from the Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland, Ohio. In 2010 he joined Colorado State University-Pueblo’s department of music in the capacity of Assistant Professor of Music, teaching applied piano,
piano related courses, as well as music theory. Dr. Metchkov has also taught at the Cleveland Institute
of Music as well as Youngstown State University. He directed the Cleveland based Ensemble Secundum
Silentium, serves as artistic adviser for the San Angelo Piano Festival, and in May 2009 co-directed the
Youngstown State University Intensive Piano Workshop. Currently he directs the Pueblo Keyboard
Arts Festival. As a performer he has appeared in the Mostly Mozart Music Festival, Pianofest in the
Hamptons, Bridgehampton Music Festival, Geneva Chamber Music Festival, New Year’s Music Days
Festival, and San Angelo Piano Festival. He has appeared live on radio WCLV-Cleveland, Bulgarian
National Radio, Radio Alma Mater-Sofia.
Dr. Metchkov has been enjoying an active artistic life as a soloist, chamber artist, as well as
church musician. He has been a guest artist with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, Suburban
Symphony, University Circle Chorale, University Circle Wind Ensemble, and Pleven Philharmonic. Future
performances include Stravinsky Concerto for Piano and Winds with the CSU-Pueblo Wind Ensemble
and Liszt Concerto N0.1 with the Pueblo Symphony. Besides music, he also enjoys skiing and is steadily
working on climbing Colorado’s fifty-four 14ers.
About Geoffery Herd
Violinist Geoffrey Herd is currently an Artist Diploma Candidate at Yale University, studying with Ani
Kavafian. In May 2010 he received a Master’s of Music degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music as a
student of William Preucil, concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Herd also received a Bachelor
of Music Degree in 2008 from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of David Updegraff. He
has performed concertos with numerous orchestras including the Rochester Philharmonic, the Ithaca
College Symphony, and the Finger Lakes Symphony. An avid chamber musician, Mr. Herd has studied
chamber music with members of the Cleveland, Guarneri, Juilliard, Ying, Tokyo and Cavani String
Quartets. Additionally, his quartet took part in the intensive quartet seminar at the Cleveland Institute
of Music in 2010. Mr. Herd has attended numerous prestigious music festivals including the Kneisel
Hall Chamber Music Festival, Encore School for Strings and the New York String Orchestra Seminar
where he was Principal Second Violin. Since the summer of 2008 he has received a fellowship to study
at the Aspen Music Festival for nine weeks each summer with Paul Kantor. Previously, Mr. Herd was
a member of the first violin section of the Canton Symphony Orchestra and in September 2010 joined
the violin section of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. He was also a teaching assistant to David
Updegraff at the Cleveland Institute of Music from 2008-2010.