Atanas Ourkouzounov

Atanas grew up in Bulgaria and began his studies with Dimitar Doitchinov. He later moved to France where he studied with Arnaud Dumond, Alexandre Lagoya and Olivier Chassain. In 1997, he was unanimously awarded a first prize in guitar at the CNSMDP, an institution where he also studied chamber music, ethnomusicology and generative improvisation.

His catalogue includes more than a hundred works (for solo guitar, duo, trio, quartets, instrumental ensembles and five concerti ) which are published by Doberman-Yppan, Henri Lemoine, Editions Fougeray.

His pieces have won awards at important festivals: “Michele Pittaluga – Città di Alessandria” - Italy, 1997; “Paolo Barsacchi” – Italy, 1997; “Il fronimo – Suvini Zerboni” - Italy, 1998; “Ciudad de Montevideo” – Uruguay, 1998; “World guitar crossroads” - Martinique, 1998.

Many major performers of our time have played his works: Zoran Dukic, Judicaël Perroy, Denis Azabagic, Goran Krivokapić, Shin-ichi Fukuda, Jérémy Jouve, Scott Tennant, Eduardo Isaac, Pablo Márquez, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Thibault Cauvin, Dimitri Illarionov, Edin Karamazov, Gabriel Bianco, Thomas Muller-Pering, Duo Palissandre… In 2017, the Nomad Ensemble premiered its Broken Concerto at the Opera City Hall in Tokyo.

Atanas performs alone on stage or accompanied by the Japanese flautist Mie Ogura. His discography includes ten albums, four of which are devoted exclusively to his music. In 2019, he founded an original trio with Mie Ogura and Petar Ralchev, a Bulgarian accordion virtuoso, drawing its inspiration from traditional Balkan music.

In addition, since 2024, he has been performing with Balkan Moods , a quintet centered around Theodosii Spassov, the specialist of the traditional Bulgarian flute, the Kaval . A recording of the musical production of this quintet will be released in 2025.

He frequently gives masterclasses in France and abroad (Manhattan School of Music, Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, etc.) and is invited to sit on juries of international competitions (Guitar Foundation of America, International Guitar Competition Michele Pittaluga - Alessandria, etc.). He currently teaches at the “Maurice Ravel” Conservatory in the 13th arrondissement of Paris.

Atanas Ourkouzounov's publications: