The sensational international concert career of the Genova and Dimitrov duo began with winning all the major piano duo competitions, including the ARD Music Competition in Munich, the Dranoff Two Piano Competition in Miami, the Tokyo Piano Duo Competition and the Bellini Music Competition in Italy.
Since then the duo has performed to great public and critical acclaim at many of the major concert halls of Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa. Festival appearances include e.g. the Schleswig-Holstein, Rheingau, Ludwigsburg, Schwetzingen, Gstaad, MDR Music Summer, the Brandenburg Summer Festival, the Bebersee Music Festival, the Lower Saxony Music Festival, the La Roque d’Antheron Piano Festival, the Al Bustan Music Festival Beirut, the Ravello Festival, the Woodstock Mozart Festival and the Music Festival of the Hamptons, the Radio WDR Cologne concerts, the Sofia Music Weeks, the Chopin Piano Festival in Duszniki and the Gdansk Music Festival.
In 2002 Genova & Dimitrov played at the opening of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and also performed for the EXPO 2000 world exhibition in Hanover.
In addition, the artists have appeared with, among others, the orchestras of the Munich, the Hanover and the Kaiserslautern Radio Philharmonics, the Bulgarian National and the Bucharest National radio symphonies, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, the New World Symphony, the Pacific Symphony and the Savannah Symphony, the NDR Hamburg Radio Choir, Sofia Philharmonic, Beijing Symphony, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Ukrainian National Philharmonic, the Cape Town and the Durban Philharmonics, Musica Viva Moscow, the Minsk Orchestra and the Polish Chamber Philharmonic, under conductors such as Eiji Oue, Ari Rasilainen, Hannu Lintu, Emil Tabakov, Alun Francis, Toshiyuki Kamioka, Leos Svarovsky, Robin Gritton and Alexander Rudin.
The Artists' season highlights include appearances at the festive 2010 Volleyball World Cup opening concert of the Italian National Olympic Committee, at the "International Pianists" Radio Concerts in Mainz, at the Russe Music Days, at the International Paderewski Piano Competition opening concert ceremony in Poland, with the Stuttgart Philharmonics and the Sofia National Radio Orchestra. Further are scheduled concert tours throughout USA, Mexico, South Africa, Namibia, China, Japan, Italy and Denmark, as well as the Master Class course at the Sachsen-Anhalt State Music Academy Cloister Michaelstein.
The Duo's new CD recording with the Bavarian Radio Munich Orchestra led by Ulf Schirmer and including Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's 2 piano concertos (E major & A-flat major) has been just released in June 2010.
Since 2010 Genova & Dimitrov were appointed Artistic Directors of the International Dranoff Two Piano Competition in Miami.
Named "Artists of the Year 2001", Genova & Dimitrov have released eight CDs on cpo including world premiere recordings of piano duo works by Shostakovich, Johann Christian Bach, Clementi, Vladigerov and Casadesus. These releases have won critical acclaim from major international music magazines and radio stations, especially the duo's recordings with the NDR Philharmonic led by Eiji Oue (concertos by Martinu and Schnittke) and with the SWR Orchestra led by Alun Francis (concertos by Milhaud, Poulenc, and Casadesus). After their CD „America for Two“ (works for two pianos by Gershwin, Copland and Bernstein), followed the next one, „Favourite Flavors“, featuring the significant works by Maurice Ravel. The Genova & Dimitrov Duo has also appeared in countless radio and TV broadcasts on all continents.
Both artists were born in Bulgaria of Greek origin, have been playing piano since the age of five, and made their orchestra debuts at the age of nine. They studied solo piano with Prof. Ganev at the Music Academy in Sofia and since 1993 with their mentor Prof. Vladimir Krainev at the Hanover State University of Music and Drama. In 2005 the duo also served as youngest jurors of the ARD Competition in Munich and at the International Almaty Piano Competition. The Artists also give master classes and workshops worldwide and since the Fall of 2008, they took over the guidance of the new specialized Piano Duo class at the Hanover State University of Music and Drama, Germany. In 2010, in collaboration with the Auetal Cultural Society in Schaumburg County, Genova & Dimitrov have established the new concert series "Young Music Elite".
For their exceptional artistic achievements, the Artists were awarded the German citizenship by the Federal Government. Today they live by Hanover (Germany), in Miami (USA) and in Sofia (Bulgaria).
CV update May 2010 |
