Vanya Milanova (born January 12, 1954; also Vania) is a Bulgarian-born solo violinist, recording artist and professor of music.

Early life and education

Milanova was born in

Razgrad Razgrad ( bg, Разград ) is a city in Northeastern Bulgaria in the valley of the Beli Lom river that falls within the historical and geographical region of Ludogorie (Deliorman). It is an administrative center of Razgrad Province. Etymolo ...

, Bulgaria. She was a child prodigy, having performed her first paid concert under the tutelage of Yordan Yordanov at the age of six. She studied at the Music School in Sofia and the State Music Academy in Sofia in the class of Peter Arnaudov, and later at the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

in London, where she studied with pedagogue

Yfrah Neaman Professor Yfrah Neaman, OBE FGSM (13 February 1923 – 4 January 2003), was a concert violinist and an instructor. Early life Neaman was born in Sidon, Lebanon. He lived in Tel Aviv until 1932 when he moved to Paris to study at the Paris ...

Career

At an early stage in her career, Milanova won prizes at several of the major international violin competitions: Kocian Violin Competition (Grand Prix for the overall winner), Queen Elisabeth (10th prize; 1971), Paganini (3rd prize; 1973) and

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

(joint 3rd prize; 1974). She has played with orchestras in England, France, Italy, Turkey, Israel, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, South America and South Africa. She has made frequent recordings with the BBC – London and Manchester, Norwegian Label Simax, Bulgarian National Radio and the Italian Label Real Sound, and has played at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadin ...

, the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

and the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

for the Edward Boyle Memorial Concert 1983, attended by Her Majesty the Queen in aid of the Edward Boyle Memorial Trust. She often was the soloist for fundraising events and recitals at the Square Chapel in the 1990s. She performed the

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...

Violin Concerto to positive reviews at the

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The ...

with Hungarian concert pianist and conductor Tamas Vasary in 1982. She often performed with the pianist

Jonathan Dunsby Jonathan Mark Dunsby (born 16 March 1953) is a British classical pianist, musicologist, author and translator, particularly known for his research in musical analysis. His introductory textbook, ''Music Analysis in Theory and Practice'' (1988), co ...

. ''The Times'', reviewing a concert in 1981, praises her 'jewel bright intonation'. Her beauty of tone is also mentioned in ''The Amadeus: Forty Years in Pictures and Words'' by Suzanne Rozsa-Lovett, and ''Beyond the Notes'' by Stephannie Williams, and her musicality is referenced in Dame

Fanny Waterman Dame Fanny Waterman (22 March 192020 December 2020) was a British pianist and academic piano teacher, who is particularly known as the founder, chair and artistic director of the Leeds International Piano Competition. She was also president of ...

's autobiography, ''My Life in Music''. Milanova is featured on the front cover of ''

The Strad ''The Strad'' is a UK-based monthly classical music magazine about string instrumentsprincipally the violin, viola, cello and double bassfor amateur and professional musicians. Founded in 1889, the magazine provides information, photographs and re ...

'' magazine in January 1982. She is the first woman to record the entire 24

Paganini caprices The 24 Caprices for Solo Violin were written in groups (six, six and twelve) by Niccolò Paganini between 1802 and 1817. They are also designated as M.S. 25 in Maria Rosa Moretti's and Anna Sorrento's ''Catalogo tematico delle musiche di Nic ...

, which she did for the Simax Label, Oslo, 1985. She was violin professor at

Bilkent University Bilkent University ( tr, Bilkent Üniversitesi) is a private university located in Ankara, Turkey. It was founded by Prof. İhsan Doğramacı in 1984, with the aim of creating a center of excellence in higher education and research. It is constan ...

, Ankara, Turkey (from 2003). She led masterclasses (from 1991) at the Music Academy 'Prof Sasha Popov' during the International 'March Music Days' Festival in Ruse, Bulgaria. She was a jury member for the

Tchaikovsky Competition The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...

in 1994.

Awards and honours

Milanova has been awarded 'Freedom of the City Award' in her native Bulgaria for her contribution to music, a Golden Feather Award from the Bulgarian Classic FM in 2001 and has been attributed with popularising classical music to a younger generation. She is an honorary member of the Horowitz festival. Milanova has a permanent museum exhibition dedicated to her in Bulgaria as announced by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency.

Personal life

Vanya Milanova was married to Paul de Keyser, the son of pianist and teacher,

Dame Fanny Waterman Dame Fanny Waterman (22 March 192020 December 2020) was a British pianist and academic piano teacher, who is particularly known as the founder, chair and artistic director of the Leeds International Piano Competition. She was also president of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milanova, Vanya 1954 births Living people Bulgarian violinists Women classical violinists 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century women musicians