Vassil Ivanov Kazandjiev, a Bulgarian composer and conductor whose orchestral and chamber works spanned more than five decades, died in Sofia on July 28, 2026, at the age of 91.
Born in Rousse, Bulgaria, on September 10, 1934, Kazandjiev began playing guitar at age seven, moved to piano two years later, and started composing at age 10. He studied under Konstantin Iliev and Dobrin Petkov before graduating from the Bulgarian State Music Academy in 1957, where he trained in composition under Pancho Vladigerov and conducting under Vladi Simeonov. While still a student, he won a laureate’s prize for his Symphonietta for large orchestra at the Sixth International Youth Festival in Moscow, under a jury chaired by Dmitri Shostakovich.
Kazandjiev began his conducting career at the National Opera in Sofia, where he spent seven years staging and conducting works by composers including Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Bartok, alongside operas and ballets by Bulgarian composers such as Lyubomir Pipkov and Vesselin Stoyanov. In 1962, he founded the Sofia Soloists Chamber Ensemble, leading the group through 15 years of concerts in Bulgaria and abroad. He later served as conductor and, from 1985 to 1993, chief conductor of the Bulgarian National Radio.
As a composer, Kazandjiev produced six symphonies alongside instrumental concertos, three string quartets, a piano quintet, and works including ‘Pictures from Bulgaria,’ ‘Live Icons,’ ‘Apocalypse,’ and ‘Illuminations,’ as well as music for theatre and film. His recordings appeared on labels across multiple countries, and he toured extensively across Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia over the course of his career.
Kazandjiev also taught for decades as professor of orchestral conducting at what is now the Pancho Vladiguerov State Academy of Music, and in 2009 was elected an academician of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Through his performances and recordings, he helped bring international attention to contemporary Bulgarian composers including Georgi Tutev, Dimitar Nenov, Marin Goleminov, Georgi Minchev, and Gheorghi Arnaoudov.
Across his work as composer, conductor, and educator, Kazandjiev left a body of work that helped define twentieth and twenty-first century Bulgarian classical music, and a legacy carried forward through generations of musicians he trained.