Genova and Dimitrov is one of the most internationally sought-after piano duos today. Already as a two-months-young ensemble, the Bulgarian-Greek descended pianists caused a sensation by winning in 1996 the "ARD Music Competition" in Munich, Germany. They followed this success by winning the Dranoff 2 Piano Competition in 1997.
Grand Slam of piano duo competitions within only two years, namely the ARD (Munich), Dranoff (Miami), Tokyo (Japan) and Bellini (Sicily) competitions, a feat that has not been matched to this day.
Originally, we both wanted to become soloists says the dynamic duo. Then, shortly before leaving for a solo competition in Korea, we sat down at two pianos in one room, as there were no other rehearsal rooms available at the Hanover University of Music. We spontaneously decided to warm-up by playing Chopin Etude 25/11 in sync. It was as if we had been given wings.
Since then, Aglika Genova and Liuben Dimitrov have been celebrated by audiences and the press, performing on the most important concert and festival stages in numerous countries on all continents, such as the Library of Congress and the National Gallery in Washington, the Schleswig-Holstein, Rheingau, Ludwigsburger and Schwetzinger Festivals, the City Hall in Cape Town, the Herkulessaal Munich, the Liederhalle Stuttgart, the Gstaad Music Festival, MDR Music Summer, at the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Cologne Philharmonic Hall, La Roque d’Antheron and the Al Bustan Music Festival Beirut, Casals Hall Tokyo, Poly Theatre Beijing, and the Teatro Municipal Rio de Janeiro, as well as at the Ravello Festival, the Woodstock Mozart Festival, and the Chopin Piano Festival, just to mention a few.
At the invitation of the National Olympic Committees, the duo appeared at the opening concerts for the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, and at the 2010 Volleyball World Championships in Trieste. Their concerts could be enjoyed at the 2000 EXPO in Hanover, and at the opening concert of the 2010 Paderewski Piano Competition in Poland. In addition, they have appeared in numerous international TV and radio broadcasts.
Under the direction of conductors such as Eiji Oue, Ari Rasilainen, Hannu Lintu, Emil Tabakov, Robin Gritton and Alexander Rudin, Genova & Dimitrov have played worldwide with leading orchestras and choirs, for example in Munich, Los Angeles/Orange County, Miami, Hamburg, Durban, Hanover, Beijing, Stuttgart, Cape Town, Sofia, Kiev, and Bucharest.
Among this season’s highlights are the release of their new CD recording, appearances at the Passau European Music Week, the Varna Summer Festival, and the Sofia Music Week, with the Bielefeld Philharmonic/Cond. Ari Rasilainen, as well as concert tours in the USA, South America and China.
Aglika Genova and Liuben Dimitrov can look back at an impressive discography - ten CDs of the duo have been released by CPO and Gega New, and given glowing reviews and top ratings by international record magazines and radio stations. In addition to a number of world premiere recordings, such as the piano duo works of Dmitri Shostakovitch, Johann Christian Bach, Muzio Clementi, and Pantcho Vladigerov, recordings such as America for Two (Gershwin, Copland, Bernstein) and Favourite Flavors (Ravel) are greatly appreciated worldwide. A particular emphasisin their discography are their recordings with orchestra Martinu and Schnittke - Concertos for 2 pianos (NDR Radio Philharmonic/Eiji Oue), French Concertos - Milhaud, Poulenc, Casadesus (SWR Radio Orchestra/Alun Francis) and Mendelssohn - Concertos 1 & 2 (Munich Radio Orchestra/Ulf Schirmer).
In 2005, Genova and Dimitrov served as the youngest jurors at the ARD Competition in Munich and in 2008 at the International Piano Competition in Almaty. In 2010, the two pianists were appointed Artistic Directors of the Dranoff International Two Piano Competition in Miami. And a short time later, they founded the Young Music Elite concert series in Auetal.
The artists give master classes worldwide, as e.g. the annual Piano Duo Academy in Cloister Michaelstein (Blankenburg/Harz, Germany) in January. Since 2009, they have been appointed Directors of Piano Duo Studies at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. In 2011 they established the piano duo forum of the world’s leading piano training center under the heading Twin Pack Piano.
The similarities between them reach far into their past: Aglika Genova and Liuben Dimitrov both began piano lessons at the age of five, and as 9-year-olds, both had their first public appearances as soloists with orchestra. During their soloist training at special music high schools for highly talented youngsters, and then at the Sofia Conservatory with Julia and Konstantin Ganev each won multiple prizes at international competitions. Following the personal invitation from their mentor, the legendary pianist Vladimir Krainev, they finished their post-graduate studies in his class at the Hanover University of Music.
Today Genova and Dimitrov live in Hanover, Miami, and Sofia.
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