He graduated in percussion instruments under the guidance of maestro Franco Campioni at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, where he also studied composition and obtained his piano diploma. Specialized in vibraphone with David Friedman, as a soloist he played with the Orchestra Angelicum in Milan, the Orchestra del Conservatorio Superiore di Graz, R.A.I. Milan, the Orchestra Sinfonica in San Remo e the Orchestra d’Archi Italiana, i Virtuosi Italiani and Novosibirsk Simphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician he has performed in the most prestigious Italian companies such as the Società del Quartetto, Società dei Concerti di Milano, Unione Musicale di Torino, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Amici della Musica di Perugia and Firenze, Accademia Chigiana, Teatro alla Scala etc… Collaborations with prestigious artists such as A. Ugorski, M. Brunello, A. Lucchesini, Markus Stockhausen, P. De Maria, E. Fisk, G. Carmignola, G. Sollima, E. Morricone. He is a permanent member of the group “Sentieri Selvaggi” directed by the composer Carlo Boccadoro who also dedicated his compositions to him. In addition to his career as a classical musician, he carries out an intense activity as a jazz vibraphone player, playing and recording with numerous internationally renowned artists such as P. Fresu, E. Rava, D. Moroni, F. Dicastri, G. Trovesi, G. Coscia, M. Negri, G. Gaslini, F. Ambrosetti L. Schneider, D. Liebman, A. Nussbaum, S. Swallow, Tom Harrell, P. Favre, D. Friedman, P. McCandless, M. Mainieri, B. Elgart, and performing in important festivals such as Umbria Jazz and Roccella Jonica. He has toured the United States, Mexico, Africa and the Far East. He has numerous recordings to his credit for the Splash, Egea and Abeat labels, and has recorded in duo with Luca Gusella, for the American label Obliqsound. Recently he was invited by Piero Angela in the broadcast “Super Quark” a program broadcasted at Italian national TV. He teaches percussion instruments at the G. Verdi Conservatory in Milan and vibraphone and improvisation at the Milan Academy of Sound.

The Russian-Greek percussionist Theodor Milkov is one of the most innovative marimba players. Well known for his “pianistic” approach, revolutionary ideas and technical abilities, bringing the marimba to a new level of performance. Milkov’s repertoire includes music written for harpsichord, piano, from baroque to romantic epoch as well as contemporary music. Through collaboration with the composer Ruud Wiener, Milkov has created new Marimba repertoire, as well as an educational series of Marimba études under the title “Fluent Movements for Marimba” Commissioning new music has been an important aspect of Milkov’s artistic life. That is how “Passacaglia” is born; a massive, weighty, tonally contrapuntal, and technically brilliant tour de force, written by Raymond Helble for his 2016 PASIC debut. Milkov’s ability to perform classical repertoire on Marimba, have opened him doors to prestigious festivals such as Oranjewoud Festival – The Netherlands , Bach Academy Brugge – Belgium. Theodor Milkov has been giving masterclasses in musical institutions all over the world, such as HfM Muenster (Germany), Colburn School of Music Los Angeles (USA), Northwestern University (USA), Conservatorium van Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Conservatoire Saint- Maur-des-Fossés (France), Salerno Conservatory (Italy), Terni Conservatory (Italy), Taiwan, Music Conservatory Kraków (Poland) Milkov began his percussion studies at the age of 7, in Municipal Conservatory of Patras (Greece), under his stepfather Maxim Mankovski. Later on, over the period 2002-2009, he continued his studies in Musikhochschule Detmold (Germany), Royal Conservatoire Den Haag and Conservatorium Van Amsterdam ( The Netherlands) under Profs. Peter Prommel, Hans Zanderoep, Fedor Teunisse, Luuk Nagdegaal, Nick Woud and Gustavo Gimmeno. Milkov holds a Bachelor of Music from Detmold Musikhochschule (Germany) and Conservatorium Amsterdam ( The Netherlands). Masters of Music from Royal Conservatoire Den Haag (The Netherlands) and Konzertexamen from Detmold Musikhochschule (Germany).

Critically acclaimed performer, author and teacher, John Riley has worked with the world’s leading Jazz musicians for over 30 years. A four time GRAMMY award winner and 14 time nominee, John has played on hundreds of recordings and at major venues with Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Woody Herman, John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Bob Mintzer, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and many others.

John is the author of The Art of Bop Drumming, currently published in five languages, Beyond Bop Drumming, The Jazz Drummer’s Workshop and the DVD The Master Drummer.
John has a BM in Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas, 1975, and an MM in Jazz Studies from the Manhattan School of Music, 1985. He is on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music and Kutztown University, an Artist in Residence at the Amsterdam Conservatory in Holland and has given master classes around the world.