Vlado Mollov

Balkan Accordionist

Born in 1983 to a family of wedding musicians, Vladimir was inspired by the sounds of the accordion from early childhood. Even at age 18 months he "played" his little accordion alongside his father at a wedding.

At age seven he began accordion lessons with the nationally recognized pedagogue Nadejda Nicheva in Kazanluk, Bulgaria. Later he studied with other nationally- and internationally-acclaimed accordion artists. As a young teen he was taking home top prizes from world-class accordion competitions, and earning praise for his virtuosic performances.

At 13 he participated in an accordion competition in Vladivostok, Russia, and placed fourth. At 15 he placed first in the International Competition for Accordion and Guitar in Asenovgrad, Bulgaria; received fourth place in the World Accordion Competition in Castelfidardo, Italy; and placed second in the national accordion competition in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where he received a special award for virtuosic performance of folk music. During his senior year in high school he received a first award in the national competition for variety music and jazz on accordion in Novi Pazar, Bulgaria.

From 2002 to 2004 he was a member of the Duquesne University Tamburitzans and he performed over 350 shows with the ensemble. He also arranged music for several of the dances and as instrumental numbers on the shows, fulfilled the position of a combo leader and performed a solo piece in every show.

Vladimir is currently working on composing, arranging and recording a solo accordion album featuring folklore, jazz and some new experimental fusion styles.