The international competition for pianists and violinists held in Shumen has once again attracted professionals from all over the world. Shumen is the hometown of great Bulgarian composer Pancho Vladigerov. The competition is held once in every two years and the start was in 1986. In the beginning the competition was for pianists only but after the Pancho Vladigerov Foundation was created in 1993, a competition for violinists became part of the forum. Head of the foundation is renowned Bulgarian violinist and pedagogue professor Mincho Minchev.

Representatives of Bulgaria, Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Japan, Taiwan, and Australia were among the young candidates this year. In the next minutes we are to cast more light on the event with the help of two famous ladies in the world of classical music - Prof. Eliso Virsaladze and Prof. Stoyka Milanova. We will also offer you several performances of the winners in both categories.

Prof. Virsaladze, who has been a lecturer in the Moscow Conservatory since 1967 and in the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich since 1995, was part of the jury. Here's what she told Radio Bulgaria:

"It's good that this competition has traditions. I think that it will continue to evolve in the future and will reach even greater level. I've been to Bulgaria many times, but this is my first participation as a member of the international jury in Shumen. I am very happy, everything is wonderful. Although the number of participants was not that big, they are promising musicians and showed good qualities. I was impressed by the young musicians from Bulgaria, Russia, and Ukraine. I can say that all performed well. Of course, I know a number of Bulgarian musicians. I have been to performances by Milena Mollova – a pianist who now has a splendid career. Everyone knew the names of Alexis Weissenberg and Yuri Bukov - Bulgarian pianists from the older generation. At a number of competitions I had the chance to listen to Evgeni Bozhanov – a talented young pianist, whom I wish success to. Among the violinists I can not miss Stoyka Milanova and Mincho Minchev. They are very good musicians. And finally I want to say that I love your country and I am always happy when I get the opportunity to be here."

Renowned artist and violin professor Stoyka Milanova told us about her impressions of the festival.

"I accepted with great joy the invitation to join my colleagues. I am grateful to Professor Mincho Minchev, head of the violin jury, to the organisers, to the mayor of Shumen and his team. In this year’s violin competition we had participants from various countries - Korea, Lithuania, Japan, Turkey, Georgia, Hungary. We regret the fact that there were no representatives of Bulgaria. Most of these young people study with Bulgarian lecturers in different academies and universities around the world and show great achievements. The overall level was very high. A novelty was the inclusion of two orchestras in the final. Violinists perform Johann Sebastian Bach with the “Sofia Soloist” Chamber Ensemble with conductor Plamen Dzhurov. There were larger concerts with the Ruse Philharmonic. I was in the jury during the first edition of the competition. At that time great pedagogue and performer Professor Ifra Nieman participated together with Prof. Mincho Minchev, prof. Dora Ivanova and others. Works of great Bulgarian composer Pancho Vladigerov are among the mandatory pieces in this competition. Bulgarians and foreigners perform them equally well. Thankfully, many art barriers have been lifted in recent decades. Young people are free to travel, to attend various competitions around the world. I want to wish the organizers success in the next editions of the forum. "

English: Alexander Markov

The audio file contains the following performances:

.  Three pieces of Johannes Brahms Fantasies op. 116, performed by Georgi Boykin, winner of the third prize

.  A performance of the winner of the first prize among the violinists - Kana Egashira from Japan