ПРОГРАМИ
en de ru fr es sr gr al tr ro
Podcast in English
Share
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra to open new season with dazzling soloist Emanuil Ivanov and a sold-out hall

The season's first concert on September 11 in Bulgaria Hall will present a repertoire of two works of Tchaikovsky
Photo: sofiaphilharmonic.com

The National Philharmonic Orchestra and its chief conductor Nayden Todorov will open the 2025/2026 season on September 11 with two absolute classic hits: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 and Symphony No. 4 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – one of the most beloved classic composers of all time.


The soloist of the evening is the exceptional young Bulgarian Emanuil Ivanov, who attracted the attention of the music world at the age of just 21. In 2019, at one of the most prestigious international piano competitions – "Ferruccio Busoni" in Italy, Emanuilabsolutely defeated the competition and won the first prize. From early childhood, he showed a great interest and love for music, but graduated not from a music school, but from the Bertolt Brecht language school in his hometown of Pazardzhik.
Emanuil Ivanov
Emanuil Ivanov began piano lessons at the age of 7, and from 2013 to 2018 he studied privately with Prof. Atanas Kurtev. He was accepted on a full scholarship to the Royal Conservatory of Birmingham, where he graduated in 2024 under the guidance of Pascal Nemirovsky and Anthony Hewitt. With the prestigious "Bicentenary Scholarship", he specialized at the Royal Academy of Music in London. 

In 2025, Ivanov became the first student of the Royal Academy to be awarded a scholarship named after the famous British pianist Sulamita Aronovsky. Emanuil is known primarily for his insightful and refined interpretations of works from the Romantic era, but his impressive repertoire also includes works by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Ravel, Gershwin and Vladigerov.


In February 2021, at the height of the pandemic, Emanuil Ivanov gave a unique recital in the hall of Milan's La Scala. The one-hour concert without an audience, broadcast live online, included works by Busoni, Ravel and Scriabin, and the comments of hundreds of music lovers on the Internet were more than enthusiastic. 

The pianist often performs in Bulgaria. He also performs in the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Poland, Cyprus, South Africa, and Japan. In 2022, he debuted in one of the most prestigious European halls - Hercules Hall in Munich, and in 2024 he played for the first time on the stage of the legendary Wigmore Hall in London and in the Konzerthaus Dortmund. In 2025, his solo debut was in the Chamber Hall of Carnegie Hall in New York. 

In the summer of 2023, Emanuel Ivanov released an album of Scarlatti's sonatas for the renowned record company Naxos. His performances have been heard on BBC Radio 3, Rai Radio 3 and NHK Radio. 

The talented pianist also has an interest in composition and has been writing music since early childhood.


Photos: sofiaphilharmonic.com, emanuilivanov.com


English publication: R. Petkova

Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.
Radio Bulgaria Music    Bulgaria Hall Emanuil Ivanov Nayden Todorov pianist Emanuil Ivanov piano concerto Tchaikovsky Sofia Phiharmonic Orchestra

More from category

Artists from across generations are coming together to share their vision of love in Future Tense

Orlin Goranov has that rare gift of making every song completely his own — and Future Tense is no exception. It tells the story of a love that outlasts time and trials.  The track was written and produced by Jeason Brad Lewis, the alter ego of..

published on 9/9/25 2:23 PM

"Hello, Sea" – a musical greeting from Bulgarian children in Las Vegas preserves sunny summer emotions

In the first days of September, a musical greeting has arrived from Las Vegas, taking us back to the sea, the sun and smiles. The children from the children's theater group "Dwarves in Drawers" in Las Vegas and their teacher Diana Nikolova sent us..

published on 9/9/25 2:00 PM

Young Bulgarian singer Severin Georgiev releases third original song "Trace"

Although he gained media popularity mainly from his participation in the 10th season of the television format "The Voice of Bulgaria" and among more than 60 thousand followers on TikTok, the traces in the professional path of the young singer Severin..

published on 9/8/25 8:35 AM

WEATHER
Pick city: Sofía
Partly Cloudy
Min: 13 | Max: 32
Partly Cloudy
Min: 17 | Max: 27
Partly Cloudy
Min: 17 | Max: 28
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 12 | Max: 33
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 18 | Max: 31
Partly Cloudy
Min: 12 | Max: 32
Partly Cloudy
Min: 11 | Max: 28
Partly Cloudy
Min: 10 | Max: 29
Partly Cloudy
Min: 13 | Max: 31
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 11 | Max: 32
Partly Cloudy
Min: 13 | Max: 33
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 15 | Max: 33
Partly Cloudy
Min: 13 | Max: 31
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 11 | Max: 30
Partly Cloudy
Min: 15 | Max: 32
Partly Cloudy
Min: 12 | Max: 32
Partly Cloudy
Min: 15 | Max: 28
Partly Cloudy
Min: 16 | Max: 32
Partly Cloudy
Min: 16 | Max: 31
Partly Cloudy
Min: 16 | Max: 30
Partly Cloudy
Min: 10 | Max: 26
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 16 | Max: 29
Partly Cloudy
Min: 12 | Max: 30
Partly Cloudy
Min: 13 | Max: 28
Partly Cloudy
Min: 13 | Max: 32
Partly Cloudy
Min: 12 | Max: 29
Partly Cloudy
Min: 12 | Max: 32
BULGARIA IN PICTURES
Which world-famous Bulgarian artist designed QSL cards for Radio Bulgaria?
Yasen Gyuzelev
Theodore Ushev
Christo Javacheff - Christo
Ilia Peikov
Lika Yanko

BULGARIANS ABROAD

Български English Русский Deutsch Српски Français Ελληνικά Español Shqip Türkçe Română
MOST VIEWED

Young Bulgarian singer Severin Georgiev releases third original song "Trace"

Although he gained media popularity mainly from his participation in the 10th season of the television format "The Voice of Bulgaria" and among more than..

published on 9/8/25 8:35 AM

"Hello, Sea" – a musical greeting from Bulgarian children in Las Vegas preserves sunny summer emotions

In the first days of September, a musical greeting has arrived from Las Vegas, taking us back to the sea, the sun and smiles. The children from the..

published on 9/9/25 2:00 PM

Artists from across generations are coming together to share their vision of love in Future Tense

Orlin Goranov has that rare gift of making every song completely his own — and Future Tense is no exception. It tells the story of a love that outlasts..

published on 9/9/25 2:23 PM

english@bnr.bg

+359 2 9336 661

Общи условия за използване на сайта | Политика за поверителност | Политика за "бисквитки"