KEEPINTOUCH
BIOGRAPHY
Born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria, Kristian is an accomplished pianist, percussionist, composer & producer who has made Canada his home since 1995.
Growing up in a family of musicians, music was revered and celebrated. At six years of age, Kristian was accepted into the prestigious L. Pipkov School of Music where he completed twelve years of intense training as a pianist and percussionist. Kristian’s natural ability, extensive training and passion for performance enabled him to tour across much of Europe by the age of nineteen.
Onstage Kristian has worked alongside some tremendous Canadian and International artists, including: Randy Brecker, kd Lang, Eric Marienthal, Allen Vizzutti, Alain Caron, Bob Mintzer, Jackie & Kim Richardson, Wycliffe Gordon, The Canadian Tenors, Tommy Banks, All Star Brass and Order of Canada Big Band. Kristian is a long-standing musical director for acclaimed trumpeter Jens Lindemann, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Youth Singers of Calgary and R&B/Soul recording artist Shannon Gaye. Kristian is also a frequent pianist for the pops program of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Recent career highlights include performances at the Eilat Chamber Music Festival (Eilat, Israel), Sochi Music Festival (Sochi, Russia), Bulgarian Embassy (Washington DC and New York, NY), Vibrato’s Jazz (Los Angeles, CA), International Trumpet Guild (Grand Rapids, MI), Brassfire at Benaroya Hall (Seattle, WA), All Star Brass (Banff Centre, AB) and the Order of Canada Big Band at Koerner Hall (Toronto, ON).
On the recording studio front, Kristian is definitely in demand. He's been a part of three Juno-nominated CD's, playing piano for the live recording of Lauren Spencer-Smith's Unplugged Vol.1, (nominated 2020). He contributed percussion and piano on Sweet Canadiana recorded by the Order of Canada Soloists (nominated 2017) and played Hammond B3 and percussion on Legacy Live (nominated 2016) recorded by Jens Lindemann and Tommy Banks. He also co-produced and recorded piano & drums on Shannon Gaye’s latest CD Songs of Joy & Peace. Kristian and Shannon are back in the studio writing and producing demos for their next collaboration.
