altus new breath ensemble members

short biographies of ensemble members who participate in current projects:

Pascal Gallois

artistic director / conductor

Renowned as one of the best bassoonists of all times, Pascal Gallois has recently made his mark as a conductor with a relentless affinity for contemporary music. He has performed with Meitar Ensemble, Prague Modern, ICE International Contemporary Ensemble of New York and, most recently, Altus - New Breath and the Macedonian Philharmonic. The Macedonian premiere of Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians was acclaimed as the most significant event of the season. Dedicated to promotion of new music, Gallois believes in innovative programming. He established the festival Les Musicales de Quiberon in 2015, and under his leadership the festival has rapidly developed into one of the cutting edge music events in the region,

Gonca Bogoromova-Krapovski

soprano

Gonca Bogoromova-Krapovski has performed with the Macedonian Philharmonic, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of the State Opera of Plovdiv and Duo SoliPse. Her opera debut as Magda in Puccini’s “La Rondine” was at the Summer Academy of Arts in Sozopol, Bulgaria, and her Macedonian debut was as Zerlina in Mozart's "Don Giovanni". Her dedication to the music of the Macedonian composers, has brought her notable premiere performances and composers’ dedications, including the “Songs of Love and Death" by Pande Shahov, the song cycle "Hope" by Damjan Temkov and "Death is a Blue Window Open to the Day" by Bojana Petrovic-Aleksov.

Elena Stojčeska

flute

Elena Stojčeska is leading a busy musical career as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. Laureate of international competitions, she is invited to festivals such as Ohrid Summer Festival, Escapades Musicales, Forfest Kromeriz, Saou Chante Mozart, among others. She regularly performs throughout Europe and in the USA. Elena is leading workshops and masterclasses in North Macedonia and France. Member of Duo Solipse since 2011, she is dedicatee of works by composers Massimiliano Messieri, Darija Andovska, Raphaelle Zaneboni, Jan Vrkoc. She is a tenured professor at the Conservatory of Livry-Gargan and teaches at the Paris W. A. Mozart Conservatory.

Igor Ivanov

clarinet

Igor Ivanov studied in Macedonia, Austria and Switzerland, and has remained active as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician in all three countries. He collaborates with Symphonisches Orchester der Kunst Universität Graz, Bläßerphilharmonie der stadt Graz, Europien Master Orchester Wien, Wiener Walzer Philharmonie, Wiener Klang Sinfonietta. He has performed in Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, China and Croatia, among others. He is a member of several chamber ensembles, including the Stravinsky Octet and ConTempora Ensemble. Since 2015, he is a member of the Macedonian Opera and Ballet Orchestra.

Antonie Veskovski

percussion

Antonie Veskovski is renowned and acclaimed percussionist and composer from Skopje, Macedonia.
He is a member and collaborator in the Macedonian Philharmonic, National Opera and Ballet, ZJM Big Band, Ensemble ConTempora and several other ensembles.
He specializes in contemporary classical percussion and jazz improvisation on mallet instruments and also is working as a professor and educator of percussion and drums. He is a leading member and creator of the modern jazz fusion ensemble - Off Ground Ensemble. He has composed several contemporary pieces for marimba and vibraphone and actively composes for percussion, orchestra and film. In his soloist career as percussionist he is mainly focused on playing new contemporary music as well as the regular percussion repertoire.

Marijana Nikolovska

piano

Marijana Nikolovska has been awarded a Masters in Performance (piano accompaniment and chamber music). Active as a soloist and accompanist, she has performed in renowned festivals in Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, Chehia, Italy, USA, Belgium and Croatia. She works as a professor of piano and piano accompanimnet at Ilija Nikolovski-Luj School of Music. In 2003, she joined the Music Faculty of the Sts. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, where she is engaged as an accompanist for the departments of percussion, brass, vocal studies, as well as orchestral conducting. She has performed with Orchestre Lamoureux, Orchestre National de Cannes, as well as the Flemish Symphony Orchestra. Since 2011, she is a member of the Macedonian Philharmonic.

Martin Dimitrov

violin

Martin graduated in the class of prof. Oleg Kondratenko at the Faculty of Music in Skopje. In 2013 he became a member of the Macedonian Philharmonic.

He has also been e member of many international orchestras and has performed at many festivals : No Borders Orchestra, Junge Philharmonie Salzburg (2021,2013), Classical Concert Chamber Orchestra (20215, USA), Pacific Music Festival (2016, Japan), as well as solo and chamber music recitals.

He attended masterclasses and individual lessons with Stefan Rose, Axel Gerhardt, Lukas Hagen, David Chen.

Paskal Krapovski

cello

Paskal Krapovski has established an active performing career in Macedonia and abroad. He is born in a family of musicians, continuing a long-standing family tradition. He began his studies with Risto Krapovski and Dime Stojanov in Skopje, before embarking on his studies at the State Music Academy "Panch Vladigerov" in Sofia. During the academic 2018/19 year, he undertakes a study stay at the North Colorado University in Denver, as an assistant of Gal Faganel. In addition to his appointment of leader of cello section at the Macedonian Philharmonic, Paskal has developed an active career as a chamber musician; he is a member of the Trio Parnasus and Music Progressive Quartet. He is also active as a pedagogue and researcher.

Aleksandar Laovski

viola

Aleksandar Laovski graduated from the Faculty of Music in Skopje, in the class of prof. Frosina Balova. He is a member of the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra since 2017 as a viola tutti. From 2015 to 2017 he worked as collaborator of the Macedonian Opera and Ballet.

Member of the Jeunesses Musicales of Macedonia orchestra, Laovski is a 2nd prize winner of the 42 National Viola Competition and recieved the International Animato Foundation Orchestra diploma in 2018.

He actively performs with many orchestras and artists from Macedonia and abroad.

Romain Petiot

guitar

French guitarist Romain Petiot performed recitals and chamber music concerts in France, Italy, Czech Republic, Belgium, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal, Russia, and Spain and was invited at numerous music festivals such as "Automne Musical" of Châtellerault, "Ohrid summer", the festival of Arromanches and "Musiques pour faire plaisir", "Maskfest" in San Marino, Scriabin museum in Moscow, the "Sarajevo winter" festival, the festival of Sagonne, Lovran Music Festival in Croatia, and by the French cultural institute of Valencia, Spain.

Dedicatee of several pieces by composers Massimiliano Messieri, Laurence Sherr, Raphaëlle Zaneboni Darija Andovska and Jan Vrkoc, he recorded in 2019 Laurence Sherr's solo guitar piece "Blue ridge frescos".

He studied at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris “Alfred Cortot” and completed his master's degree, from Paris conservatory CNSMDP in 2015.

Romain currently resides in Paris is tenured professor at the Conservatory of l'Haÿ-les-Roses.

altus new breath