Draft:Assen Vassilev

Assen Assenov Vassilev is a Bulgarian bass opera singer.

Biography
Assen Vassilev was born on December 19, 1948 in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. His father, Assen Vassilev, was a bank clerk, son of the IMARO activist in Adrianopolitan Thrace, Gerogi Vassilev. His mother, Evdokia Vassileva (nee Razboinikova) was an educator. He graduated from the Bulgarian State Conservatory majoring in opera singing in 1977. He specialized with Professor Frédéric Anspach (Belgium) and Professor Raffaele Arié (Italy, Israel).

He became laureate of the Fourth International Competition for Young Opera Singers in Skopje, then Yugoslavia, in 1975. He received the special prize of the Dutch Music Interests Foundation at the Twenty-second International Vocal Competition of the Dutch Television in 's-Hertogenbosch in 1975. He participated in numerous authoritative Bulgarian music festivals such as "Sofia Music Weeks", "Varna Summer" and others. He toured Great Britain, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, the Federal Republic of Germany, Israel, USA and others.

In 1978 he moved to Israel, where he sang in the Israel National Opera until its closure in 1982. He continued to work in Bulgaria, gave concerts in Great Britain and the United States in the 1980s. In the 1990s, he recorded opera and ecclesiastical music in Bulgaria, Italy and Israel.

He passed away on March 19, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

Discography

 * Pencho Stoyanov – Symphony "Faith" for bass, narrator and symphony orchestra (Balkanton VSA 2109)
 * Opera recital by Assen Vassilev – bass. Accompanied by the Bulgarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conductor: Vasil Stefanov (Balkanton VOA 10889, 1982)
 * Opera recital by Assen Vassilev – bass-baritone. Accompanied by the Sofia State Philharmonic and the Bulgarian National Choir "Svetoslav Obretenov" with choirmaster Georgi Robev. Conductor: Edward Downes (Balkanton VOA 11119, 1983)
 * Solemn Liturgy – Lozko Stoyanov. Soloist: Assen Vassilev (bass), vocals: Todor Grigorov-Teres (tenor), Ivan Petrov (bass), Male Chamber Choir "Slavonic Voices". Conductor: Metodi Matakiev. * Double album dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the restoration of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. (Balkanton VHA 12471 – 12472), 1991
 * Georgi Sviridov. Oratorio Pathetique: for bass, mixed choir and large symphony orchestra. Soloist: Assen Vassilev (bass). Bulgarian Radio Mixed Choir, choirmaster: Mihail Milkov; Varna Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor: Andrey Andreev (Balkanton VHA 12630)
 * Praise the name of the Lord. Church Slavonic chants. Assen Vassilev – bass-baritone, mixed choir of the Bulgarian National Radio. Conductor: Mikhail Milkov (Balkanton VNMS 7647, 1990)
 * Dmitri Shostakovich – "The Execution of Stepan Razin", G. Sviridov – "Pathetic Oratorio". Varna Philharmonic, Assen Vassilev- bass, conductor: Andrey Andreev (Koch International Classics)
 * Italian Opera Rarities: Giovanni Pacini's Maria Tudor. English Symphony Orchestra, conductor David Parry, (LO 7714 – 7715), 1983
 * Liturgia Solemnis – Lozko Stoyanov – composer, Assen Vassilev – bass, "Slavonic Voices" choir, Varna Philharmonic. 1991
 * Anton Bruckner, Assen Vassilev – bass, Monteverdi-Choir Hamburg, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Jürgen Jürgens-Conductor. Music of The St. Florian Period 1845 – 1855, (Jerusalem Records ATD 8503)