Although still very young, Veselin Ninov already enjoys a remarkable career as a soloist and chamber musician in the United States. He says this was what he wanted from a very early age - to live and tour overseas. After a series of successes at major international competitions, today Veselin gladly copes with the professional challenges that he is constantly facing. Only one of them - the musician is among the few artists who have received the chance to tour with the piano of legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz.

Veselin was born in Pleven, a town in northern Bulgaria. There are no musicians in his family. He started playing at the age of 4 at the Panayot Pipkov National School of Arts in the city where he got his secondary education. All the time he was in the class of the famous piano professor Antoinetta Vodenicharova. With her he prepared for his first appearance at the Svetoslav Obretenov national competition in the town of Provadia where he competed in the group of ten-year-old children and won a prize, being only five years old at that time. Many other victories followed for which he is today grateful to his teacher and the Bulgarian system of music education:

"Our music schools offer very good training not only for soloist artists and chamber musicians. Theoretical disciplines that improve the practical skills from an early age are seriously present. I am very grateful to my piano teacher, Ms. Vodenicharova, for everything that she has done for me and to the Bulgarian educational system. I came to New York for the first time in 2006. I was 16 years old. I took part in festivals and met with American professors who watched me playing. Among them were also Russian musicians who had chosen to live and teach in the US. Later I continued my education at the Long Island Conservatory in New York in the class of Prof. Tamara Poddubnaya. I like the way in which musical work is done in the US, but again I underline - what I've learnt in Bulgaria helps me a lot. The skills that we gain as teenagers are taught here much later. This gave me a lot of advantages. "

The pianist says that his first piano was of the Belarus brand. Produced in the Soviet Union, these instruments were very common in this country in the recent past because of their relatively good quality and affordable price. Pianos with that brand gave rise to many musical jokes - because of the eponymous brand of Soviet tractors widely used in Bulgaria's agriculture. In recent years, Veselin Ninov has had the opportunity to play on magnificent grand pianos:

"For a year and a half I am a representative of BV Artists International and constantly give concerts with orchestras and solo recitals in New York and the surrounding area. I have projects for the Steinway Company which include performances on the grand piano produced especially for Vladimir Horowitz - an extraordinary experience for me. The celebrated Russian pianist travelled with this piano around the world, accompanied by his personal tuner. Today, some 25 years after the death of Horowitz, the tuner continues to accompany the piano and to take care of its condition. For the first time I played on it in 2012 at the invitation of the Steinway company in Long Island. This instrument holds so much history... I remember that I performed a piece of Franz Liszt and with the very first tones I felt the incredible range of the sound and great joy. True, pure joy of what came out from under my fingers, it was a very special moment for me and for anyone who has had the chance to touch these keys. In 2015, I'm about to have an exciting meeting - a concert with one of the most popular women on the music scene in New York - Susan Deaver, conductor, music director of the North Shore Symphony Orchestra. Being on stage with her and her band is wonderful. Last year, we performed together Tchaikovsky's piano concert. Now I have an invitation to perform a Concerto for Piano and Orchestra N 2 by Dmitri Shostakovitch - incredibly beautiful music. I am very honoured to be part of the event, as Ms. Deaver so decided to celebrate the end of her successful career, and then plans to withdraw from her activity as conductor."

The audio file contains the following tracks:

Scherzo in B flat major (B dur) of Franz Schubert

Suite №2 from Three suites for piano by Albert Roussel

Hungarian Rhapsody # 12 by Franz Liszt - fragment

English Rossitsa Petcova