 During that period emerged one of the first prominent figures in Bulgarian jazz, Milcho Leviev, a composer, conductor, arranger, and piano player, whose career started with directing and occasionally composing and arranging for the Bulgarian radio and television big band between 1962 and 1966.Due to his personal connections (most notably with his teacher from the conservatory, classical composer Pancho Vladigerov) and other fortunate circumstances, Leviev was able to overcome some of the aesthetic conservatism.He found folk music tradition, with the asymmetrical complex rhythms, distinctive melodic motifs, and emphasis on virtuosity and improvisation typical for Bulgarian music, to be a logical choice to translate into jazz.