EMANUIL IVANOV attracted international attention after receiving the First prize at the 2019 Ferruccio Busoni Piano Competition in Italy. This achievement was followed by concert engagements in some of the world’s most prestigious halls around the world.
Emanuil Ivanov was born in 1998 in the town of Pazardzhik, Bulgaria. From an early age he demonstrated a keen interest and love for music. He regards the presence of symphonic music, especially that of Gustav Mahler, as tremendously influential in his musical upbringing during his
childhood. He started piano lessons with Galina Daskalova in his hometown around the age of seven. He later studied in and graduated from the Bertolt Brecht Language High school in Pazardzhik. Ivanov studied with renowned Bulgarian pianist Atanas Kurtev from 2013 to 2018. He is currently studying on a full scholarship at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire under the tutelage of Pascal Nemirovski and Anthony Hewitt.
His participations in masterclasses including those of Ludmil Angelov, Evgeni Bozhanov, Dmitri Bashkirov, Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Michel Béroff, Dmitri Alexeev, Andrzej Yashinski, Pavel Egorov, Peter Donohoe, etc. His repertoire includes works essential to the concert piano repertoire by Bach; Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven; Chopin, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff; Gershwin and Ravel; as well as Vladigerov.
Linked to his distinction at the Ferruccio Busoni Competition is a solo recital in February 2021, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ivanov performed a solo recital in Milan’s famous Teatro alla Scala. The concert was livestreamed online, without audience and is a major highlight in the artist’s career. The young performer played Fantasia after J. S. Bach, the clavier cycle Miroirs by Ravel and Sonata No. 5 by Skriabin. The Internet comments posted by hundreds of mellomans globally were deserved superlatives.
Emanuil Ivanov has also performed at many festivals in Bulgaria. He performs solo recitals and tours France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Cyprus, the United Kingdom and Poland. In 2022 he made his debut in one of the most prestigious European halls – Herkulessaal in Munich. He has played with leading orchestras in Bulgaria and Italy. In the summer of 2023, he recorded an album of Scarlatti sonatas for the renowned Naxos label. Ivanov’s performances have been featured on BBC Radio 3, Italy’s Rai Radio 3 and Japan’s NHK Radio.
Emanuil Ivanov continuously displays an affinity for some of the less frequently performed works he includes in his repertoire. Ahead of his performance of Ferruccio Busoni’s massive Piano Concerto with the Sofia Philharmonic, he presented it on 14 June 2024 with the RBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins. Apart from playing the piano, he also displays great interest in composition and has composed regularly since childhood.
Emanuil Ivanov has won prizes at prestigious international competitions such as the Alessandro Casagrande, Scriabin-Rachmaninoff, Liszt-Bartók, Young Virtuosi, Dinu Lipatti, the Crystal Lyre and Young Musician of the Year awards, as well as UK awards such as the Musicians’ Company Silver Medal and the Carnwath Piano Scholarship.