From an early age, Simo Lazarov developed his musical and technical abilities in order to combine them professionally in 1974 when he created the first Electronic Music Studio in Bulgaria at the Bulgarian National Radio, which he led for more than 25 years.
Going through various stages of his engineering and music education in Prague, mastering organ performance skills from Jiri Ropek and studying electronic music with Prof. Rudolph Ruzicka; working in electronic studios in Bratislava; completing his technical education in Sofia and studying Pierre Boulez’s composition courses at IRKAM-Paris – on the one hand and simultaneously performing alone and with various ensembles – on the other hand, he also established himself as a leading specialist in the field of electronic music – the art that connects the two spheres of human life – music and technology. With his qualities as a good organizer, he managed to attract around him during those years many professionals – musicians, composers, engineers, directors, journalists and writers, who for many years were sympathetic to the idea of realizing and popularizing Bulgarian electronic music.
Combining creative activities, Simo Lazarov works in several directions: composing and performing original electronic, electroacoustic and computer music, music for cinema, theater, radio and television productions, studio and concert activities at home and abroad, participation in domestic and foreign festivals and competitions for electroacoustic music, as well as creating the first Bulgarian festivals for electronic music and multimedia.
Since 1977, his teaching and pedagogic activities have included courses in sound engineering, sound culture and electronic music through the Academy of Music, Technical University and Sofia University, through numerous summer schools, in order to initiate and create his own methodology and school in 1996. at the New Bulgarian University, where he is currently a professor, the only specialization in computer music making in Bulgaria.
His discography and bibliography include 18 books, over 60 scientific publications, about 300 musical works of all genres and forms united in 9 long-playing records, 32 CD albums and 11 DVD albums, the music for 7 full-length and about 90 short films, about 30 theater productions and about 20 cassette compilations, as well as the anthology of 30 CDs of author’s music released in 2004 by BNR and music house SYNTHI music-Tel Aviv.
Since 2002, he has been the artistic director of the Bulgarian edition of the International Forum-Festival UNIVERSE of COMPUTER MUSIC.
Since 2004, he has been the director of the Scientific-Practical and Research Unit for Computer Music Making and Computer Sound Processing at NBU, which unit grew into the Center for Computer Music and Sound Design in 2016. For his active academic, musical and organizational activity in 2017, he was nominated for the NBU Rector’s Award.
Since 2013, he has been the chairman of the “Physical, Electro- and Musical Acoustics” (FEMA) section of the Federation of Scientific and Technical Unions in Bulgaria.
Since 2014, he has been an academician of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Since 2015, he has been an honorary professor at the New Bulgarian University.
To the many national and international awards received in 2008, Simo Lazarov added the award of the National Palace of Culture “Artist of the Salon of Arts” for overall creative activity, the awards of the teams led by him “Crystal Lyra” of the Union of Music and Dance Artists in category «Sound and sound design» in 2016 and 2017, as well as the «Golden Lira» received in 2018 for overall creative activity.
With over 2,500 concerts, with his inexhaustible ideas, with his participation on world stages and international forums, he worthily proves his name as a modern, original, searching artist.