Elena Antimova - piano

Elena Antimova, pianist and composer, gave her first solo recital at age of six in her native country Bulgaria. She is a recipient of piano honors and awards from several national competitions including The Special Prize for Best Performance of Contemporary Music at the First National Piano Competition for Contemporary American Music in Varna, Bulgaria. She was subsequently invited to perform the national premiere of Six Piano Pieces by the American composer Richard Cornell at the Third Annual American Music Week in Sofia, Bulgaria in December 2000. While a student at The Boston University Tanglewood Institute in summer 2000 she has been studying with some of the world's leading pianists such as Maria-Clodes Jaguaribe, Anthony di Bonaventura and Tong-Il Han. She has also performed with the Young Artists Orchestra of Tanglewood conducted by David Hoose as a part of the Tanglewood Music Festival.

Ms. Antimova made her New York debut in January 2002 .Her performance at Weill Recital Hall lead to an Emmy-nominated documentary produced by CUNY-TV. Ms Antimova is an undergraduate student at Brooklyn College where she studies with Prof. Michael Rogers. As a student she has been awarded The John Challener Award in Piano and The Sol Goldman Scholarship as recognition of her outstanding achievements. As a solo and chamber musician she has premiered numerous contemporary works. Her engagements with The New York Youth Symphony Chamber Music Program during 2002-2003 season include performances in CAMI Hall, Weill Recital Hall (premiering a newly-composed chamber work at the season's finale), National Arts Club and Klavierhaus. As a Bulgarian Virtuosi Artist she has performed with the Bulgarian Piano Quartet, Trio BG and in duo with Kalin Ivanov. She has also participated in master classes given by Claude Franck (USA), Roland Keller (Austria), Paolo Police (Italy), Victor Chuchkov (Bulgaria) and Gilbert Kalish (USA) among others. Her performances have been broadcasted by CUNY TV-Channel 75, WNYE TV-Channel 25, Eurocom TV, Bulgarian National TV, Bulgarian National Radio, Radio Free Europe, WNYC, New York Public Radio, and Voice of America. Ms. Antimova's most recent chamber music projects include the performance of Bartok- Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion under the coaching of Prof. Morris Lang.

As a composer, Ms. Antimova is strongly influenced by the musical heritage of her native land. She combines melodic and rhythmic elements of Balkan culture with free form and contemporary approach to the instruments in order to create a blend of new ethnically-oriented music.