Evgeni Bozhanov ( Bulgarian: Евгени Божанов) (born in Rousse, Bulgaria on 10 March 1984) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n pianist who trained with Evgeny Zhelyazkov at the National School of Arts "Prof. Vesselin Stoyanov" in Rousse (Bulgaria). From 2001 to 2006, he studied with Boris Bloch at the

Folkwang Hochschule The Folkwang University of the Arts is a university for music, theater, dance, design, and academic studies, located in four German cities of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 1927, its traditional main location has been in the former Werden Abbey in ...

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

and from 2006 he continued his studies with

Georg Friedrich Schenck Georg Friedrich Schenck (born 1953) is a German musician. Schenk was born in Aachen, Germany. Graduating from Hanover Music College (student of Bernhard Ebert), he took masterclasses with Claudio Arrau, and then was a student of the American pia ...

at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf.

Competitions

He has garnered worldwide attention after his charismatic performances at the 2009 Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the 2010

Queen Elisabeth Music Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition (, ) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in City of Brussels, Brussels. The competition is named after Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (1876–1 ...

in Brussels and the XVI International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. In 2010, he won the Second Prize at the 16th International Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition, and a few months later was awarded Fourth Prize at the XVI Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition. Whether he refused his prize and the attendant monetary award is a matter of ongoing speculation fueled by the fact that he did not participate in the Prize Winner's concerts "for reasons outside the competition". The Chopin Competition jury had decided at the time of the final round to suddenly change the rules of judging by discarding the point system, where Bozhanov was consistently in 2nd place through the 3rd round, in favor of a ranking system for the final (concerto) round and competition. The latest published jury voting details on the final round provides proof of the large variation in judgment of Bozhanov's performances, with his being ranked first or second place by some and 9th or 10th place by others. Such a rule change at the last minute of the competition was not explained or given reasons by either the chairman of the jury nor jury members in public, calling the impartiality of the procedure into question.

Prizes in international competitions

*1999 International Frédéric Chopin Competition

Varna, Bulgaria Varna (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, third-largest city in Bulgaria and the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in the Northern Bulgaria region. Situated strategically in the Gulf of Varna, t ...

- 1st prize *2000 Jeunesses Musicales Competition

Bucharest, Romania Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

- 1st prize *2006 Carl Bechstein IPC,

Essen, Germany Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

- 1st prize *2008 Alessandro Casagrande IPC,

Terni, Italy Terni ( ; ; ) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria, in Central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the River Nera. It is northeast of Rome and 8 ...

- 1st prize * 2008 Sviatoslav Richter IPC,

Moscow, Russia Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

- 2nd prize (1st void). * 2009 Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Fort Worth (Texas), USA - finalist. * 2010

Brussels, Belgium Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

- 2nd prize.Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition
* 2010 XVI International Chopin Piano Competition,

Warsaw, Poland Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at 1.86 million residents within a grea ...

- 4th prize

References

External links

www.evgenibozhanov.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bozhanov, Evgeni Bulgarian classical pianists 1984 births Living people Prize-winners of the International Chopin Piano Competition Prize-winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition People from Ruse, Bulgaria Male classical pianists Robert Schumann Hochschule alumni