USA Tour with Miloš

Born in Skopje, Macedonia, David Belkovski’s journey as a musician has taken him from early ventures into Balkan folk music to the vibrant beginnings of a career as conductor, soloist, and continuist. Performing regularly on harpsichord, fortepiano, and modern piano, David has been awarded first prize in several international and national competitions, including the 2019 Sfzp International Fortepiano Competition, earning him praise for his artistry on both historical and modern keyboards.

Quickly establishing himself as one of early music’s most exciting young directors, David has conducted notable orchestras from behind the harpsichord. David holds the position of Assistant Conductor of Philarmonia Baroque Orchestra, making his opera conducting debut with the ensemble in 2022. In early 2024, David conducted the New World Symphony in the renowned orchestra’s first exploration of period instruments. David will join Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in the summer of 2024 as Assistant Conductor with Ensemble Pygmalion and Raphaël Pichon for a world premier of Rameau’s Samson.

Along with international prize-winning violinist Rachell Ellen Wong, David founded Twelfth Night, a period-instrument ensemble based in New York City. Twelfth Night makes their Carnegie Hall debut in May, 2024, performing an electrifying operatic showcase with Julie Roset and Xenia Puskarz Thomas.

In addition to performing, David’s compositions include commissions by Juilliard415. As an instructor, David coaches vocalists at The Juilliard School and teaches courses and workshops on subjects ranging from continuo performance to historical pedagogy. David is the recipient of the Robert A. and Patricia S. Levinson Award, the first to receive the fellowship in the field of early music.

Firmly positioned as a leading exponent of his instrument, Miloš has appeared in some of the most important concert halls and at major festivals around the world, including with the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, and Cleveland Orchestra.

His first three releases on Deutsche Grammophon achieved chart-topping successes around the globe and turned him into “classical music’s guitar hero” (BBC Music Magazine) overnight. His recording of Rodrigo’s concerto with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the London Philharmonic had the Sunday Times calling him “The King of Aranjuez”, while his record, Blackbird–The Beatles Album — including duets with Gregory Porter, Tori Amos, Steven Isserlis, and Anoushka Shankar – was released to unanimous praise. Miloš’ 2019 album, Sound of Silence, joined his previous albums, in reaching No. 1 on the UK Classical charts, and on Amazon.

Miloš is the first ever classical guitarist to have performed in solo recital at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Guardian commenting: “More extraordinary by far was the way a single guitarist could shrink the Hall’s cavernous space into something so close.” The Independent concluded: “not only a magician, but a serious and accomplished musician”.

In August 2018 Miloš made a triumphant return to the hall. In front of 6000 people at the BBC Proms, he performed the world premiere of Joby Talbot’s guitar concerto, Ink Dark Moon written especially for him, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Committed to commissioning new repertoire for the guitar, Miloš joined the NAC Ottawa in May 2019 to perform another concerto written especially for him, ‘The Forest’ by Howard Shore.

In 2021, Miloš released his sixth album The Moon and the Forest, featuring the Talbot and Shore concerti as well as Ludovico Einaudi’s ‘Full Moon’ and Schumann’s ‘Traumerei’. This latest album marks Miloš’s 10-year anniversary with Decca and was hailed by Gramophone as offering “new perspectives on the relationship between guitar and orchestra, performed with conviction and elan”.