Lyubomir Denev

LYUBOMIR DENEV Sr. is a musician with a vast practice in various genres, with a quest and flair for delicate expression, sonic nuance and original forms. His professional path passes through Bulgarian national establishments and through contacts with eminent personalities. He graduated from the Secondary Music School in Sofia in the percussion class of Dobri Paliev (1971) and from the State Music Academy with orchestral conducting under Konstantin Iliev (1979). He completed master classes in conducting with Franco Ferrara in Siena (1980), opera and operetta conducting with Edward Downs in the Netherlands (1981), composition with Anatol Vieru in Ruse (1995). From 1977-1986 he was conductor at the Stefan Makedonski State Music Theatre, after 1986 he was a freelance conductor and composer. He has participated in international festivals and concerts as a jazz pianist in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Germany, Portugal, France, the United States, the Netherlands and Norway. His music has been performed in many European countries, Mexico, India, Russia, China, Egypt and the United States. In May 1993, his musical The Law of the Jungle premiered in Paris; the musical Love's Labour Lost was performed in Cairo (1989) with the Blagoevgrad Chamber Opera. In December 2000, the National Television filmed and broadcast a film about the composer entitled "The Music I Make". Deneuve has won numerous awards: First Prize at the Golden Orpheus festival for the pop-song “Before Dawn” (1979); the Sofia Prize for the musical "The Law of the Jungle" (1989); the Maestro Dimitar Valchev Foundation Prize for the ballet "Homo Ludens" and the musical "Alice" (1999); the ASQUERE Award for Theatre Music for the musical "Yesterday" (2001); third prize at the International Competition for Choral Music - Jihlava-Czech Republic (cycle for female choir "By the Spring", 2002); also IIId price from the Balkan competition for the song “Silvia” (on Shakespeare’s sonnet) for female choir(2002); third prize at the International Competition INTERSONANZEN in Potsdam, Germany for chamber music ("Playing with the Wind", 2003); First Prize at the National Radio Competition for a new work for grand piano Bösendorfer-Imperial ("Hymns to the Sun", 2005), the Golden Racket (2006) for the music to the film "The Sparrows in October", Second Prize at the Sofia 2009 Competition ("Concerto nostalgico" for the Sofia Soloists Ensemble), etc. In 2020, the Ministry of Culture awarded him the Golden Century Star for his significant contribution to the development and promotion of Bulgarian culture.