Ukki Sachedina is an Indian-American conductor based between Berlin and Los Angeles. As guest conductor, he has had the privilege of working with orchestras across Europe and the United States. Ukki has served as Assistant Conductor for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Jaime Martín. He is currently mentored by Maxim Eshkenazy, Jorma Panula, and Markus Stenz. He has also studied with Paavo Järvi.
As guest conductor, he has worked with orchestras including the Rousse Philharmonic, Burgas State Opera, Vratsa Symphony, Pazardzhik Symphony, South Coast Symphony, Vidin Sinfonietta and others. He has also conducted the Karlovy Vary Symphony, South Denmark Symphony, Santa Monica Symphony, and Järvi Academy Symphony. Notable events from the past seasons include a concert tour in the Season 22-23 across Bulgaria, conducting the complete symphonic cycle of Brahms.
As assistant for LACO, Ukki collaborated on season finale concert with sitarist Anousha Shankar in May 2023. He has also served as Assistant Conductor for the Santa Monica Symphony and Vicente Chamber Orchestra.
Ukki has participated in numerous international festivals including Pärnu Music Festival, studying with Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Kristjan Järvi, and Leonid Grin; and Fiskars Summer Festival, studying with Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Dalia Stasevska, and James Gaffigan. He also was chosen by Maestro Panula to participate in his masterclasses including the Nordic Masterclass with South Denmark Symphony Orchestra and the Turku masterclasses with Turku Philharmonic.
He is currently studying at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin. He previously completed his studies in orchestral conducting at the Colburn School with Maxim Eshkenazy. There he made his debut as a conductor at age 16 with a performance of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring with a chamber orchestra he founded. For the years 2022 and 2023, he was a 2x winner of the South Coast Symphony’s McBeth Foundation Award “Young Stars of the Future”.
Ukki has been a guest on Bulgarian National Radio and Television. He has been featured on the NPR Broadcast “From the Top” and New York City’s WXQR’s Young Artist Showcase and New York Concert Review.
Veronika Ilieva is a student at the National School of Arts "Prof. Veselin Stoyanov" – Ruse, in the class of Evgeni Zhelyazkov. She has been actively involved in music and the arts since early childhood.
She is a laureate of numerous first and second prizes from competitions in Italy, Switzerland, Cyprus, Estonia, Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria, including the Orbetello International Online Competition 2022, Odin International Music Competition 2020, Franz Schubert International Competition (2019, 2021, 2023), Hopes, Talents, Masters (2022), and many others. In June 2025, she won First Prize at the prestigious international competition Premio Toscana Città di Cascina, held in Cascina, Italy.
She has participated in masterclasses with renowned pianists such as Lyudmil Angelov, Janos Balazs, Borislava Taneva, Alessandro Deljavan, Paul Komen, Daniela Andonova, Ilya Kondratiev, Alexander Hinchev, and others.
Veronika has performed as a soloist over ten times with the Ruse Philharmonic, Shumen Symphony, and the Academic Symphony Orchestra – Sofia, under the baton of conductors such as Maxim Eshkenazy, Dimitar Kosev, Viliana Valcheva, Georgi Patrikov, Svetlin Hristov, and Ivan Ivanov.
She has taken part in festivals including March Music Days, Sofia Music Weeks, Aurora Festival – Netherlands, MIRATONE Festival – Hungary, and others in Bulgaria and abroad. She has performed in numerous concerts in Bulgaria, France, the Netherlands, Hungary, Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania, and Serbia, in collaboration with the National Music Academy “Pancho Vladigerov”, New Bulgarian University, Cantus Firmus, State Opera Ruse, Polyphonia Association, and others.
In June 2025, she gave her first solo recital titled Impression, presented to the audience in Ruse.
She is also a solo vocalist with the Ruse Children’s Opera, part of the State Opera Ruse.
In July 2025, she is scheduled to participate in the prestigious Fiestravaganza Academy in Berlin, which partners with the legendary piano manufacturer Bechstein.
The symphonic concert of the State Opera Ruse, conducted by Ukki Sachedina with Veronika Ilieva as piano soloist, will delight the audience on July 17 at 7:00 PM in Philharmonia Hall.
Tickets at the box office "Opera" and HERE.
