Ludmil Angelov
Born in Varna, Ludmil Angelov is an alumnus of the National Academy of Music in Sofia. He is a student of Viktoria Spasova, Ludmila Stoyanova and the phenomenal pianist and pedagogue Konstantin Stankovich. He has won numerous prizes at international competitions, including Fr. Chopin, Poland, Palm Beach International Competition, USA, Piano Masters, Monte Carlо and World Piano Masters Tour, France.
Popular all over the world, Ludmil Angelov has given recitals and chamber music concerts and has played as soloist with many prestigious orchestras under the baton of world-famous conductors. He has performed at major concert halls, such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Pleyel and Gaveau in Paris, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Lincoln Centre in New York, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the Herkulessaal in Munich, BOZAR in Brussels, KKL in Lucerne, the Zürich Opera, the Salle Garnier in Monte-Carlo, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, the concert hall of the Moscow Conservatorie, the National Philharmonic Hall and Polish National Opera in Warsaw, KBS Hall in Seoul amongst many others.
The labels for which Ludmil Angelov has recorded include RCA, Gega New, Pentatone, Danacord, Non Profit Music, Toccata Classics, Hyperion, Vela Records and Virginia Records. His recording of Chopin’s Complete Rondos & Variations was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque Chopin by the International Chopin Institute in Warsaw. In 2016 he recorded with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra the world-premiere recording of the recently discovered early Piano Concerto of Moritz Moszkowski for Hyperion.
The music of Chopin has been a constant of his performing career. During the 1987–88 season he performed the complete solo-piano works by Chopin in a cycle of twelve recitals, a unique event for which he received the prize of “Young Musician of the Year in Bulgaria”. He has also participated in some of the most significant Chopin festivals in Europe, including “Chopin and his Europe” Festival in Warsaw. In 1999, he presented, in a cycle of recitals, the complete works of Chopin in Madrid and other cities of Spain; ten years later, in the 2009–10 season he again performed the complete Chopin in Bulgaria and Spain.
In 2011, Mr. Angelov created the Piano Extravaganza Foundation, which produces annually the Piano Extravaganza International Music Festival – a forum dedicated to rarely performed piano works. Mr. Angelov performs regularly with violinist Vesko Eshkenazy. In 2006, the duo performed a complete concert cycle of the Mozart Violin and Piano Sonatas in Gijon, Toledo, and Madrid, and in 2016 Mr. Angelov and Mr. Eshkenazy’s greatly successful performance at the European Music Festival in Sofia (with their “Tango” project) marked their 20-year anniversary on stage as a duo.
Ludmil Angelov is the winner of the Apollo Toxophorus Award of the Apollonia Art Foundation. He is Corresponding Member of the Royal Academy of Arts in Toledo. In November 2011, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Poland awarded him the Gloria Artis Medal for popularizing Polish music around the world. In 2015, Mr. Angelov received a lifetime achievement Grand Award of the city of Varna. Since the 2011-2012 concert season, Ludmil Angelov has served as honorary professor at New Bulgarian University, where he also leads an annual piano masterclass. He is a regular jury member at international competitions, including the 2010, 2015 and 2020 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.