Denitsa Dimitrova: a Sofia Opera soloist harpist, won a prestigious international contest in France
From the 13th to the 15th of February in Limoges, France, an international harp contest took place. World-renowned harpists comprised the jury: Isabelle Perin, Dominique Lacott, Véronique Genest, Sylvain Blassel.
A hundred and ten harpists from twenty-four countries competed in a total of twelve categories.
The contest took place in two rounds, the first one being online. For the second and final round, a total of six performers from Belarus, Bulgaria, Estonia, China, Finland and Switzerland were invited to appear before the jury in Limoges. Solo harp pieces of the highest level of difficulty were included in the mandatory repertoire, one of them with a piano accompaniment: Marcel Grandjany’s Rhapsody for the first round and the first part Henriette Renié’s concert for harp and orchestra as well as the play „Le Jardin Mouillé“ by Jacques de la Presle.
Denitsa Dimitrova won the first prize in the contest’s most prestigious category. Her interpretations received the most flattering reviews:
“A deep and convincing take on the music piece full of beautiful energy and a captivating interpretation. A very clean and controlled performance delivered with great precision. A very good musician”, Mr. Sylvain Blassel expressed his admiration.
Denitsa Dimitrova has been a soloist harpist at the Sofia Opera and Ballet since 2006; meanwhile, she develops her talent through active concert activities as a soloist and chamber performer. Her daughter Emma has been her student for six years and won the first prize in the previous edition of the same contest, in the non-pedal harp category.
Denitsa Dimitrova is the bearer of the First prize from the International contest “UFAM” – Paris (2005); the Second prize from the “Revelation Muses 2005” contest organized by the Nice opera; the Second prize from the “Musicians of the Next Decade” International contest which took place in Skopje (2004); she is a laureate of the First “Vera Dulova” international contest in Moscow, 2000 and many others.
In 2002, Denitsa Dimitrova was one of thirty young harpists chosen from all over the world through a preliminary contest to take part in the concert cycle “Focus on Youth” at the 8th World harp congress in Geneva.
