The Philips Philharmonic Choir was founded in 1937 by Philips employees. The members, including many expats, now come from the larger Brainport region. Together they represent eight nationalities and share a passion for singing classical music.
The Philips Choir provides 3 to 5 concerts or concert series every year, both on its own initiative and at the invitation of orchestras. The choir focuses on larger choral works with orchestra. It has been performing Bach’s St. Matthew Passion every year since 1948, a tradition of more than 75 years! The Philips Choir regularly performs in the country’s major concert halls, including Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht and De Vereeniging in Nijmegen.
The conductor is Iassen Raykov, native from Bulgary. The choir’s accompanist is Mark van Platen (musician/composer, winner of the Gouden Kalf 2004).
The choir’s motto: practice with dedication, perform music at a high level, and enjoy the pleasure in doing so.
If you would like to know more about the Philips Philharmonic Choir, you can take a look at their website!
Iassen Raykov, conductor
©foto eric brinkhorst
Iassen Raykov was born in Varna, Bulgaria, on the Black Sea coast. In his homeland, he studied piano at the State Conservatory in Sofia. In 1996, he moved to the Netherlands, where he continued his music studies at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam (choral conducting) and the ArtEZ Conservatory in Enschede (orchestral conducting).
In the years that followed, Raykov conducted a wide range of choirs. Nowadays, he focuses primarily
on major works for choir and orchestra, which he performs with the ensembles under his direction. Currently,
Raykov is the conductor of the Philips Choir in Eindhoven and of oratorio choirs in Zwolle, Enschede, and Bad
Bentheim (Germany). He is also the artistic director of Vocal Ensemble La Colombe, where he focuses primarily on a
cappella and early music.
Under Raykov’s direction, the chamber choir Canteklaer won first prize in 2015 at the Church Music Competition in
Frenswegen, Germany. Raykov is affiliated with the Academia Musica in Enschede as a choral conducting instructor.
His conducting style has been described in the press as “sometimes restrained and at other times flamboyant”, by which he has his singers “literally under a spell”, leading with discipline, concentration, and precision.