Georgi Mintchev (*1939)

Biography

Georgi Mintchev was born in 1939 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He finished his studies in 1963 at the Bulgarian National Conservatory in the composition class of Marin Goleminov. Later (1968-1970) he did further studies with Rodion Shchedrin in Moscow. In 1972 he received an important UNESCO scholarship and continued his studies in USA, England and France.

Georgi Mintchev been head of the music department of Radio Sofia, general director of the recording company Balkanton, vice-president and general secretary of the Union of Bulgarian Composers, and since 1990, artistic director of the Bulgarian National Radio.

He was frequently on juries of international competitions such as: London («Let the Poeples Sing», 1974-79), Terni («International Composition Contest», 1979-80), Florence («Premio Vittorio Gui», 1981), Anco-na («Premio Ancona», 1982-84), Warsaw («International Composition Contest», 1984), Berlin («International Composition Contest», 1986), Athens («Olympia International Composition Contest», 1990-92).

Georgi Mintchev got the highest Bulgarian national awards and several international prizes. He has received prizes from the “International Forum of Composers” in Paris, from the “International Association of musical experts in phonographic production” in the United States as well as from other institutions. In 1989 he received the European “Lorenzo il Magnifico” Prize from the International “Medicea” Academy in Florence and was named “Onorevole Senatore Academico”. In 1992 he received the “20th Award for Achievement” by the International Biographial Centre of Cambridge (GB).

His works have been performed in all the major concert halls of Europe, North and South America and Australia. A dozen LPs and CDs have been recorded in Bulgaria, the Ex-USSR, Switzerland and in USA. Since 1993, the complete works of Georgi Mintchev are exclusively published by Editions Bim in Switzerland.