Dimitar Biography

Dimitar Dimitrov was born in Dobrich, Bulgaria. By the age of 2, he was already playing melodies on his accordion. His music education began when he received his first piano lesson at the age of 5. While Dimitar was a student in Michael Slavov’s piano class, at the National Music School “Lubomir Pipkov” in Sofia, he won several piano competitions:

• Hopes, Talents, Masters (Dobrich, 2004)
• Young Virtuoso International Competition (Sofia, 2005)
• The Franz Schubert International Competition (Russe, 2005)
• Grand Prize of the International Festival (San Daniele, Italy, 2005)

Upon finishing his secondary school music education in 2006, Dimitrov entered the Prins Claus Conservatory, Groningen. Here he studied with the renowned pianist, Dr. Tamara Poddubnaya.

Even before his first year at Prins Claus had ended, Dimitrov had garnered victories in 3 Dutch competitions:

• “Prinses Christina Concours,” The Hague, 2007
• “Harten Aas Trofee,” Groningen, 2007
• “Grachten Festival,” Amsterdam, 2007

Following the Prinses Christina Concours and “Harten Aas Trofee,” the jury called him a “Young lion of the piano, in the tradition of the great Russian pianists of the past.”

• In 2008, he won the Grand Prix at “Maria Yudina International Competition,” St. Petersburg in Russia.
• In August 2008 Dimitar won the 1st Prize at the LISMA Foundation International Piano Competition in New York.

In November 2008, Dimitrov’s earlier success in the “Prinses Christina Concours” earned him the spotlight with The North Netherlands Orchestra, as he performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, with conductor Michel Tabachnik, during a 3-day tour of the Netherlands.

In August, 2009, Dimitrov performed the Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin with the “Harmonie St.Michael” in Thorn, the Netherlands, which was followed by an invitation for several performances in January 2010 at the concert hall of Tilburg and the theatre “Oranjerie” in Roermond, with the conductor Ivan Meylemans.

In November, 2009, he participated in “Koffie bij de Piano”, a highly valued part of the classical music program in the “Theater aan de parade”, ‘s Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. After the vote of the public, Dimitar received the highest result ever in these series and in June 2010 he was chosen by the public and the youth jury as a winner.

After participating in the YPF Competition (Young Pianist Foundation) in Amsterdam, Dimitar won the “Mozart prize” and the prize of the “Best participant in category C”. He received great praise by Marcel Baudet, Dmitri Bashkirov, Oxana Yablonska, Victor Rosenbaum and the president of the jury Sieuwert Verster. They described him as a great talent with big hopes for his future career.

In June 2010 Dimitar received his Bachelor degree at the “Prins Claus Conservatory” in Groningen.

After an invitation from Jan Wijn, one of the Netherlands most highly regarded pedagogues, Dimitar joined his piano class in September 2010 at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.

In September 2011, during his master studies with Jan Wijn, Dimitar was awarded the prestigious “Huygens Scholarship” for outstanding achievements in his education.

In November 2011, Dimitrov was selected as one of the 4 finalists of the “Dutch Classical Talent Competition”, which is held in Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. As part of the competition, Dimitar performed solo recitals in the season of 2012-2013, in 10 of the best concert halls in the Netherlands, including ‘the Concertgebouw’ in Amsterdam.

In March 2013 Dimitar received his “Master of Music” diploma.