Sulivan Sweetland is an international artist management company developing the careers of conductors, solo instrumentalists and ensembles all over the world. Our hallmarks are our integrity and our imaginative approach which delivers a bespoke service tailored to the individual’s needs.
Our boutique team of six complements experience with a curiosity for developing trends in concert presentation reflecting the diverse audiences of today’s world. We share a passion for classical music, a desire to nurture and support our musicians and a belief in the fundamental power of classical music to connect peoples and enrich all lives.
Born in 1994 in Germany into a family of Bulgarian musicians, Vivi Vassileva first studied the violin with her father, but upon hearing a group of folk artists on Karadere beach on the Black Sea coast she was immediately inspired to take up percussion. It was these colourful and exotic Balkan rhythms which moulded her into the multi-faceted musician she has become and which continue to influence her classically trained style. Besides her brilliant technique and astonishing virtuosity, she brings an exceptional musicality and poetic expression to her performances. Poised at the beginning of her musical career, Vivi promises to be an artist that will take audiences with her as she explores and pushes the boundaries of the percussion world. Passionate about composition as well as commissioning new works to add to the percussion repertoire, Vivi has already been praised for her innovative programming style. Collaboration is key to Vivi’s approach; working regularly with a wide variety of partners including the Vassileva Quintet which she formed in 2015.
Vassileva began her formal training at the age of ten with Claudio Estay and after winning First Prize at the national competition Jugend Musiziert in Germany. At the age of 13 she made her concerto debut with the Hofer Symphoniker. More successes followed including prizes at international marimba competitions in Paris 2009 and Nuremberg 2010, the Ingolstadt Music Cultivation Prize 2013 and two Special Prizes as the youngest semi-finalist at the prestigious ARD-Music Competition in 2014.
Highlights of the 18/19 season will see her premiere a percussion concerto written for her by Oriol Cruixent with the Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal under Julia Jones, her debut at the Berlin Philharmonie with her Percussion Quartet and a performance with the Nürnberger Symphoniker of Tan Dun’s “Tears of Nature” with Dimitri Jurowski.
The Award was presented by the Association of British Orchestras as part of the ABO Classical Music Awards which celebrate excellence in the fields of orchestral, concert hall and artist management.
“The winner of the award this time around has long enjoyed a reputation for the integrity and imagination with which she handles the careers of ‘conventional’ classical music artists, such as violinist Augustin Hadelich and conductor Elena Schwarz. However, since her earliest days in the profession she has had a taste for the eclectic. One way this was demonstrated in the past year has been the exciting developments in the international career of mandolinist Avi Avital. But what especially caught the jury’s eye was our winner’s work for the bold, mould-breaking and ever-creative sitar player and composer, Anoushka Shankar. This work demands special levels of skill and commitment”
This week, the Doric String quartet embark on their 2019 US Tour featuring concerts in Harvard, Burlington, Philadelphia, Schenectady, Harrisburg, Oberlin and Colombia.
Friday 8th February marked the first concert of Avi Avital’s tour with ensemble, ‘The Knights’. The tour covers venues such as Szczecin, Berlin, Dusselforf, Munich, Hamburg, Vienna, Linz, and Zurich.
This week, Vadym Kholodenko performs Prokofiev with the Copenhagen Philharmonic, Tchaikovsky with the Mariinsky Orchestra at Munich Philharmonie under Gergiev, and a recital in Flagey.