Mario was born in Sofia, 1948, into a musical family. He learns to play the piano from the age of five and improvisation as an adult. He creates his quartet at 22. It will be the most popular training in Bulgaria. After completing his studies in piano, composition, orchestration, and direction, he began working with some of the most prominent names in Eastern jazz. In 1980, he moved to Lyon from Bulgaria. He has been involved in composition, teaching, and concerts ever since. He founded the Jazz Department at the National Conservatory of Lyon in 1984. He has performed all over Europe, America, and China solo or with other musicians such as Enrico Rava and Michel Perez. 1 for String Quartet (Lyon 1989), Collages For Contemporary Ensemble and Corsican Vocals (Bastia 1992), Suites East West for Bulgarian Voices (Tbilisi 1997), Instrumental suite for guitar, piano, Climats. He teaches at Lyons National Conservatory, and at Salon-de-Provence’s IMFP. Mario Stantchev Sextet, which included F. Castellani and R. Nikitoff, was founded here in 1998. He has been working with the Mario Stantchev Trio since 2008 (D. Del Aguila on double bass, R. Merlinc drums). from www.ouchrecords-vinyls.com
