On November 18th, Professor Nikolai Evrov celebrated his 75th birthday away from Bulgaria – down under in Australia where he has been living in the past few decades.
A devoted pianist and teacher of several generations of pianists across the world, Professor Evrov graduated from the Music Academy in Sofia and later specialized in the Moscow Conservatory. At the age of 19, he earned the first award and a gold medal at the World Youth Festival in Warsaw in 1955. And before he was thirty, he was already awarded with distinctions from the international competitions Margarita Long andJacques Thibaut in Paris in 1959 and the Liszt – Bartok piano competition in Budapest in 1961. He has given concerts across Europe, Cuba and Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the Near East, and has recorded with world’s largest labels.
Next on today’s program, we offer you a recording made for the Bulgarian largest record label in the past, Balkanton, back in 1966 – it’s a fragment from Concerto for piano and orchestra of Bulgarian composer Lyubomir Pipkov. The accompaniment is of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dobrin Petkov once again.

„Numerous talented young people were my students over the past 45 years. I have been trying to give a part of me to each of them. They are now professional performers and pedagogues in different prestigious conservatories and universities in Bulgaria and other countries. Their success makes me happy”, Nikolai Evrov told Radio Bulgaria.
At first, he went to Australia for a number of concerts and he found a warm and enthusiastic audience as well as new friendships with other musicians.

“First, I was invited to teach there for three terms and I never thought of staying. However, my contract expired and was renewed once, then twice, and so it went for 25 years. In Sydney, I work in splendid conditions. Many famous world artists arrive in Australia and the concert life there is very dynamic. Yet, it feels a bit far from Europe. When I was still in Bulgaria, it was very easy for me to give concerts across the Old Continent, and I had much more concerts. Each year, I return to Bulgaria and give at least one concert. At my 70th anniversary, I had concerts in several places. One of the concerts was in Sofia with several of my former students. We performed works for two pianos. Venera Bozhkova arrived from England, Boris Nedelchev from France, Mina Ivanova from Thailand, and they were joined also by Antonina Boneva, Mario Angelov and Borislava Taneva. This was a really exciting concert which I will never forget!”, Professor Evrov recalls.
Professor Evrov gave up active concert activity last year due to health problems. While he was still living Bulgaria, he performed a lot of chamber music in partnership with the most celebrated musicians from that time.
And here is a recording from that period – Allegro from Trio for piano, clarinet, and cello of Brahms. The performance is of Petko Radev on the clarinet, Venzeslav Nikolov on the cello, and Nikolai Evrov on the piano.

Building a Bulgarian church, a library and a Saturday school – these are the goals of the Bulgarian community in Australia, where the family of professor Evrov now lives. “Most Bulgarians from my generation live in Melbourne and Adelaide. This is the older wave of emigrants who have Bulgarian churches and Bulgarian-language radio programs. In Sydney, there are fewer Bulgarians. Their number has increased in recent years and there is a new wave of younger emigrants with highly assessed professions. We live in a very friendly community. A lot of events are organized and Bulgarian folk dances are studied. We try to raise funds for a Bulgarian school and library where children would be able to study Bulgarian.”
As to his recent 75th anniversary, Professor Evrov said he hoped for good health, and it was too early to draw the line. I am still working and dreaming, he told our reporter.
And now, until the end of TOM and of RB’s broadcast today, Three Fantastic Dances of Dmitri Schostakovich. On the piano – Bulgarian renowned pianist Nikolai Evrov who has recently turned 75.

Translated by Rossitsa Petcova