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Vladimir Karparov
Member Since: 2014 | Location: Berlin | Page Views: 674 
About Me
The music of Vladimir Karparov is both unique and expressive; it’s marked by an uncommonly successful fusion between contemporary jazz and the rhythmical and melodic color of Bulgaria’s lively folk music.
Vladimir Karparov was born in 1977 and grew up in Bulgaria's capital Sofia. He discovered music at an early age, influenced mainly by classical music and his older brother, pianist and composer Svetoslav Karparov. Vladimir started playing the saxophone when he was 12 years old in the youth brass band “Boteva Cheta.” Shortly after the political changes in 1989, while studying at the French Gymnasium “Alphonse de Lamartine” in Sofia , Vladimir often played as a street musician. This allowed him to develop his improvisational skills and deepen his passion for music. From 1995 to 1999, Karparov studied at the “Pancho Vladigerov” Academy of Music in Sofia, specializing in jazz and pop music. He quickly realized that his fascination gravitated more towards jazz; to deepen his knowledge in this area, he applied for an “Oscar und Vera Ritter-Stiftung“ scholarship to Hamburg’s Hochschule für Musik und Theater (HfMT) with success and began studying there in 1999. The longer Vladimir Karparov lived away from home, the more intensely he reflected on Bulgarian folk music, which gradually became an essential and irrevocable component of his music. Berlin’s richly fertile, multi-cultural jazz scene exerted a magical attraction on the young saxophonist. Karparov moved to the German capital in 2001 to continue his studies at Berlin’s Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” and graduated in 2005 with a degree in saxophone and teaching, majoring in jazz and popular music. His participation in various festival events as well as numerous concerts and awards in Europe, Asia, Latin and North America, North Afrika, together with his collaboration with greats both on the American, Western and Eastern European jazz and folk scenes complete the picture of this versatile musician. Vladimir Karparov has played or toured with Ivo Papasov, Jiggs Whigham, Nedyalko Nedyalkov, Theodossi Spassov, Petar Ralchev, Martin Lubenov, John Hollenbeck, Stoyan Yankoulov, Uwe Kropinski, Mike Stern, Amira Medunjanin, Georg Breinschmid, Arkady Shilkloper, Stian Carstensen, Aka Moon Trio, Shantel, Babylon Orchestra, Tarek Yamani, Bodek Janke, Peter Slavov Junior, Antoni Donchev, Hristo Yotsov and many others to realize a wide spectrum of musical visions. After recording CDs with various projects, Karparov released his first album “Thracian Dance” in 2007. In 2009 he founded his second own project, the Forkolor Saxophone Quartet, whose debut album “Forkolor” was released in 2014. In 2016 the V.Karparov Quartet released the album “Antihypocrisyl”, followed by the album “Iglika” in 2022. In 2024 was released the debut album “Balkan Fever” by the Balkan Spirit Ensemble, founded by Karparov in 2016, which presents a unique synthesis of modern jazz and the colorful and lively folk music of the Balkans. Karparov is currently working on new studio recordings with the quartet “Eastern Passage” (a joint production with the Bulgarian pianist based in NY Asen Doykin), the Forkolor Saxophone Quartet, the Duo Karparov & Stawinski, and Vladimir’s big band program, which will be released in 2026. In 2013 V.Karparov accepted a composition commission for the Metropole Orkest as part of the “Apollon Project” Alongside his concert activities, Karparov has inspired young people and adults to improve their musical skills in various seminars and master classes. Karparov has passed on his musical skills to pupils and students at universities such as Hanover (HMTMH), Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium (Denmark), as well as at jazz festivals such as Jazz de Castejon de Sos, Stara Zagora Jazz festival. Awards: 1996 - Winner of the “Best Young Jazz Musician of the Year” award in Bulgaria; 1999 - 3rd prize at the International Jazz Competition in Monaco; 2000 - Prize winner at “Medica pro Musica” in Düsseldorf; 2020 - Award from the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture for the worldwide popularization of Bulgarian culture.
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This page was last updated on 2026-09-20.
