Anatoliy Vapirov

Since 1992 Anatoli Vapirov has been working as the Artistic Director of the Varna Summer International Jazz Festival.

In 1987 Vapirov emigrated from the USSR and moved with his Bulgarian wife to Varna, Bulgaria.

In 1981, he was arrested by the Soviet authorities and spent time in prison. While serving his sentence Vapirov practiced his saxophone diligently and also organized a jazz band of prisoners. Under Vapirov's leadership that prisoner's jazz band became the winner of the contest among prison jazz bands of the former Soviet Union. At that time Vapirov secretly made a sound recording of the music he composed in prison, and then it was smuggled from the Soviet Union, while he was in prison, and was released in England under the title "Sentenced to Silence. " That album also became a showcase of remarkable interplay between the imprisoned Vapirov on the saxophone and a free man, Sergei Kuryokhin, on the piano.

During the 1980s Vapirov toured all over the world with performances of his own composition 'Slavyanskaya Misteriya' (Slavic Mystery 1977) which brought him international acclaim. Anatoli Vapirov also wrote music for film and stage productions.

In 1979 Vapirov finished postgraduate course in saxophone and Big-Band conducting at the Leningrad Conservatory. Vapirov established himself as a prominent jazz soloist, improviser, and band-leader in the former USSR and internationally.

In 1976 he founded "Vapirov jazz-quartet" in Leningrad.

Petersburg) Conservatory from 1976-1981.

Petersburg) Conservatory in 1971.

Beginning from the 1970s Vapirov made numerous appearances at jazz festivals in Russia, Italy, Germany, France, USA, Austria, Denamrk, and Switzerland. Vapirov collaborated with such musicians, as Sergei Kuryokhin, Vladimir Volkov, Vyacheslav Gajvoronsky, Valentina Ponomaryova, Tomasz Stanko, as well, as with many other notable musicians in Russia and internationally. He also taught Master-classes of saxophone, improvisation, and Big-Band conducting. Vapirov was a professor at the Leningrad (St.

Anatoli Petrovich Vapirov was born on November 24, 1947, in Berdiansk, Ukraine, Soviet Union. His father, named Petr Vapirov, was Bulgarian, his mother was Russian. At a young age Vapirov moved to Leningrad (St. Petersburg). There Vapirov studied saxophone, clarinet, and composition, and graduated from the Leningrad (St.