site.btaPianist Jenny Zaharieva Turns 80

The Bulgarian pianist and music educator, Prof. Jenny Zaharieva, was born in Sofia in 1946. She is widely recognized as a leading figure of the Bulgarian piano school. She graduated from the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatoire under Vera Gornostayeva and Tatiana Nikolaeva and attended a master-class under Pierre Sancan in Paris.

Over a 60-year career, Zaharieva has performed internationally across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, appearing in recitals, chamber music and as a soloist with major symphony orchestras.

Zaharieva has conducted masterclasses worldwide, including in Moscow, Paris, New York, Tokyo, and at summer music academies in Italy and Bulgaria.

She served as professor of piano and chamber music at the National Academy of Music "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov" and chaired the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers from 1999 to 2012.

Zaharieva has received numerous awards, including prizes at the Robert Schumann Competition (Germany, 1966), the Marguerite Long Competition (Paris, 1969), the Crystal Lyre of the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers, the Golden Century Award from the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette (2018), the French title Officier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and the Honorary Badge of the President of Bulgaria (2021).

The pianist has made significant contributions to Bulgarian cultural life, including founding summer music academies at the Black Sea, recording extensively and promoting historical instruments. She spearheaded the restoration of Clara Schumann's pianoforte at Branitz Schloss in Germany and became the first pianist to perform and record on the instrument, an achievement recognized with a German state honour; the recording was distributed in the United States and Canada between 2000 and 2003. She gave the first recital on the Steinway "Rhapsody in Blue" concert grand piano, specially designed to mark the 100th anniversary of George Gershwin's birth. Zaharieva premiered in Europe Lalo Schifrin's Concerto of the Americas with the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra under the composer's baton, as part of a Steinway Foundation project commemorating the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America.

In 2008, Jenny Zaharieva was named Bulgarian Cultural Ambassador to France during that country's EU Council Presidency.

Following are excerpts from news items about the pianist released by BTA's External Service:

Pianist Jenny Zaharieva Goes to France, US

Sofia, September 19, 1999 (BTA) - Pianist Jenny Zaharieva will be giving concerts in the US and France from September 20 to October 17.

In New York Prof.  Zaharieva will play Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor with the opera and symphony orchestra under the baton of Michael Spierman and will give a recital of Debussy and Beethoven in Steinway Hall. Zaharieva will give concerts and masterclasses in Florida and New Jersey.

Her Paris concert on October 15 will be dedicated to the 75th birthday of pedagogue Germaine Mounier, who chairs the Albert Roussel Foundation, organizer of an international competition of the same name. Jenny Zaharieva, artistic director of the competition, Ventsislav Yankov and Yuri Boukoff are the three Bulgarians who will take part in the concert of Mounier's friends and collaborators. PM/DD/ 16:30:53  19-09-1999

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Jenny Zaharieva, Angel Stankov Perform in Concert for National Day March 3 in French Parliament

Sofia, March 7, 2006 (BTA) - On the occasion of Bulgaria's National Day, March 3, pianist Jenny Zaharieva, Chairperson of the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers, and violinist Angel Stankov, Deputy Rector of the National Academy of Music, delivered a concert at the French Parliament in Paris on March 6, the Academy said.

The concert, under the patronage of French Senate President Christian Poncelet, passed with enormous success before a full hall. Zaharieva and Stankov played works of Mozart, Beethoven, Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin, Nina Maleeva, Parashkev Hadjiev and Massenet. Senators, diplomats and Bulgarians living in France attended the concert.

The invitation for the concert came from the chairman of the France-Bulgaria group at the French Senate and the Bulgarian Ambassador to France Irina Bokova. TD/BR

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Pianist Jenny Zaharieva Awarded French Order for Contribution to Arts, Literature

Sofia, September 21, 2007 (BTA) - Bulgarian pianist Jenny Zaharieva, who chairs the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers, has been awarded the French Ordre des arts et des lettres for her contribution to arts and literature, the Union told BTA. Zaharieva intends to express her gratitude for the honour in a letter she will present to the delegation accompanying French President Nicolas Sarkozy on his visit to Bulgaria due in two weeks' time. LI/BR