For many years now the talented art of MINCHO MINCHEV has been invariably surrounded by the admiration of the public and the superlative assessments of critics on four continents. He has performed as a soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Orchestra London, London Mozart Players, St. Martin in the Fields Academy, St. Goldsmith Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Moscow Radio and Television Orchestra, the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra of Bucharest, the Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, etc.
He has worked with world-renowned conductors such as Sir Charles Groves, Sir Alexander Gibson, Sir Neville Marriner, Leonard Slatkin, John Eliott Gardiner, as well as the finest Bulgarian conductors.
His extraordinary artistic career has also included concerts in the most prestigious halls around the world, including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Bolshoi Theatre and Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, the Royal Festival Hall and the Royal Albert Hall in London, and the Hercules Hall in Munich, among others.
Mincho Minchev has made numerous recordings at home and abroad, for labels such as DECCA, Balkanton, Capriccio, Integral, as well as for West German Radio (WDR), Radio Geneva, Radio Sofia, Bulgarian National Television, Bucharest and Belgrade Radio and Television.
He has been a jury member of major international competitions, including Carl Flesch (UK), Rоdolfо Lipitzer (Italy), Yfrah Neaman (Germany), Beethoven (Czech Republic), Jugend Musiziert (Germany), etc. Since 1993 he has been Chairman of the Pancho Vladigerov Foundation and Chairman of the Violin Jury of the Pancho Vladigerov International Piano and Violin Competition. Since 2002 he has been Artistic Director of the International Summer Academy, held annually within the framework of the Varna Summer International Music Festival. From 14th to 28th October 2022 Prof. Mincho Minchev was a member of the jury of the most prestigious competition for violinists in Seoul, South Korea.
He has been professor of violin at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany, since 1990. Alongside his intensive work at the university and his active soloist career, he gives violin masterclasses in various countries around the world – Mexico, Cuba, Turkey, Greece, North Macedonia, Slovakia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Bulgaria. For the past 18 years he has been conducting violin master classes in Arcutino with the assistance of the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Foundation. He also conducts violin masterclasses annually at the Varna Summer International Music Festival and the International March Music Days Festival in Ruse.
Mincho Minchev was born in Gabrovo in 1950. He started playing the violin at the age of 4. In 1959 he performed his first solo concert, after which he won a number of prizes and awards at prestigious national and international competitions, the greatest of which were Henryk Wieniawski (Poland, 1967), Paganini (Italy, 1970), Carl Flesch (Great Britain, 1972 and 1974). He studied with Prof. Emil Kamilarov, and between 1974 and 1976 – with Prof. Yfrah Neaman in London.
Since 1977 he has been playing a 1716 Baron Wittgenstein Stradivari violin, purchased especially for him and provided by the Bulgarian state.
He was awarded the Bulgarian National Radio Musician of the Year in 1993 and the Outstanding Contribution to Bulgarian Culture Award in 2010.
After the successful graduation of students from his violin class at the University of Essen, Prof. Mincho Minchev finally returned to Bulgaria.