- Stefan Popov
Stefan Popov (born
April 3 ,1940 ) is an internationally recognizedcellist who holds both Bulgarian and British nationality. He started to learn thecello at the age of 12 and, having won a scholarship, continued his training at theMoscow Conservatory where he studied underSviatoslav Knushevitsky andMstislav Rostropovich from 1961 to 1966. He became a prize-winner in many competitions, including Geneva, Florence and Vienna. In 1966, as a finalist he won a medal in theInternational Tchaikovsky Competition for Cello. At the same time as the Tchaikovsky competition, he was also awarded a prize from the Union of Soviet Composers for his performance of Russian music.From 1971 to 1975 he taught at
Boston University andNew England Conservatory . From 1977 to date, he has lived in the United Kingdom, where he has been a professor of cello at theGuildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He performs regularly and leads cello masterclasses at music festivals and in state conservatoires throughout the world.He has had performances broadcast on radio and television, as well as having recorded numerous CDs. In 2006 he recorded and transcribed for cello Beethoven's violin concerto, to coincide with the 200 year anniversary of its first performance. He stated that he did this also in part "to compensate for the fact no Beethoven cello concerto was ever written" and to commemorate what is generally regarded as one of the greatest concertos for any instrument.
External links
* [http://www.gsmd.ac.uk/music/people/undergraduate_music_staff/department_of_stringed_instruments/cello/stefan_popov.html Guildhall School of Music and Drama profile]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.