Fund Prof. Milcho Leviev
Milcho Isakov Leviev was born on December 19, 1937 in Plovdiv, where in 1955 he completed his secondary education at the School of Music. He graduated from the State Conservatory with a degree in composition at Prof. Pancho Vladigerov and piano at Prof. Andrey Stoyanov in 1960. As a student, he received the Second Composition Award at the Vienna International Competition. After graduation he started working as a composer at the Plovdiv Theater and as a teacher of chamber music at the Plovdiv School of Music. In 1962 he was appointed conductor of the pop orchestra at the National Bulgarian Radio and Television. At the same time he composes, turning his works into models for a successful synthesis between jazz, folklore and classical music. From 1963 to 1968 he appeared as soloist and conductor of the Plovdiv and Sofia Philharmonic. He composed music for movies and TV shows. His international fame came as co-founder and leader of the Jazz Focus '65 Quartet, with which he achieved the greatest international success for Bulgarian jazz, winning in 1967 the Critics' Award from the first ever edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.
In June 1970, he toured Europe as an artistic director of a jazz orchestra and did not return to Bulgaria. After a short stay and recording in West Germany with Albert Mangelsdorf, in March 1971 he went to Los Angeles, USA. There he became part of the orchestra of trumpeter Don Ellis, from whom he received an invitation to work together. He has worked with him for five years as a pianist, composer and stage arranger, often based on Bulgarian folklore. Milcho Leviev also worked with many other world names in jazz. He has arranged the play Blue Rondo a la Turk, which Al Jeroux included in his breakthrough album, Breakin 'Away (1982), which received the Grammy Award. He is the co-founder and leader of the Free Fleet Jazz Quartet, named "Best Combo Of The Year" in 1982 by the Los Angeles Times.
Milcho Leviev has toured in the US, Europe and Asia. He composed, arranged and participated as a pianist in the American Jazz Philharmonic, the Beverly Hills Symphony Orchestra, the Sofia Philharmonic and the Bulgarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He taught jazz composition at the University of Southern California. He leads a master class at New Bulgarian University.
Milcho Leviev has been honored with many awards and international honors.
Maestro Milcho Leviev's archive was personally donated by him to New Bulgarian University in the beginning of 2012.
Documents containing biographical data on the fundraiser are presented by various biographies compiled by and for Milcho Leviev. The earliest of them were written shortly after his arrival in the United States and can hardly cover his intense appearances.
The beginning of a new life for Milcho Leviev in the United States after March 1971 is illustrated by documents related to his application for US citizenship. Other documents are related to his unsuccessful attempts to perform again in Bulgaria.
In the archive of Maestro Leviev the documents related to his creative activity cover the fullest years after his arrival in America. These are manuscripts and printed copies of sheet music - nearly 210 separate documents presenting Milcho Leviev as a composer. Here are the scores and tunes of some of his compositions. Milcho Leviev's work as an arranger is reflected in several dozen drafts of his arrangements.
Of particular importance to New Bulgarian University are the documents retained by Prof. Leviev related to his teaching activity and the organization of his master class at the University.
Correspondence in the archive of Milcho Leviev covers the years after leaving Bulgaria, and by 2007 - a huge amount of letters (printed emails from 1990 onwards) related to his work.
The photos at Milcho Leviev's personal fund are from his portraits taken after his arrival in the United States. Still, photos related to his 60th birthday celebrations, which took place at the end of 1997, are also present. Photos of world-renowned musicians who have greatly influenced Milcho Leviev's music career in America have been preserved.
The printed materials in the archive represent numerous magazines, newspapers and separate excerpts from the publications with materials for Milcho Leviev - his interviews, reviews and reviews for his performances, concerts and recorded albums.
The collection of nearly 900 gramophone records in the archive of Milcho Leviev is indicative of the development of his work after 1960. Here are 400 more audio cassettes with his performances, 80 CDs with his albums and recordings and over 60 different types of tape recorders with studio records.