Dimitar Liolev is a second-generation professional musician. He is the son of Kostadin Liolev – an accordionist, classical clarinettist, composer and arranger of Bulgarian folk music.
Dimitar began studying music at the age of five, and saxophone – at the age of sixteen. He is a graduate of both the Secondary Music School and the Academy of Music in Plovdiv, with piano and fagotto as his majors.
In 2002 Dimitar isadmitted at the Prince Claus Conservatoire in Groningen, the Netherlands. There he graduated from the “New York Comes to Groningen” program, under the expertise of such American and Dutch jazz educators as: Ralph Peterson, Don Braden, David Berkman, Conrad Herwig, Brian Lynch, Dena DeRose, JorisTeepe, Miguel Martinez, Yuri Honing.
In 2004 he reached the finals of the competition “Dutch Jazz Competition”, where he presented his first group “Rakia” on the stage of the prestigious North Sea Jazz Festival.
In 2006 Dimitar began a busy recording and performing career in Bulgaria with some of the most recognized Bulgarian artist – Theodossi Spassov, Angel Zaberski Jr., Anthony Donchev, Mihail Yossiffov, HristoYotsov, StoyanYankoulov, Hilda Kazasyan, Lili Ivanova and many more. He started a number of projects under his leadership – a quartet, a quintet and a septet.
Currently, he is a member of the renown National Radio Big Band, the Brass Association Big Band and is a musical director of July Jazz Festival for a few years.
In 2014 his debut album “Rhodopology” waslaunched. In 2017 his second album in which Dimitar`s pure love for both the Bulgarian folklore and jazz coexist in beautiful harmony – “Eastern Shadows” was released and quickly gained international recognition.
ETHNO JAZZ
