Department of Music, Theatre and Dance alumna Miroslava Mintcheva ’02 is the winner of the 2011 StAR Studio Fellowship Award. The award comes from the Music Teachers National Association and is given to those who demonstrate outstanding achievements in the teaching profession. With her husband David McArthur ’04, ’06, Mintcheva runs a private piano studio in Boulder, Colo.

“We believe that by challenging each other and by exposing the student to different, sometimes opposing ideas, we are able to create multi-dimensional pianists who are also independent thinkers able to approach a problem with creativity and decisiveness,” said Mintcheva.

At Colorado State University, Mintcheva studied with Janet Landreth and received her Masters of Music degree in piano performance. Studying and then later teaching in the department helped Mintcheva develop the skills she has as a teacher today.

“During my graduate studies at CSU I was given the opportunity to hone my teaching skills as a teaching assistant of group piano classes. After graduation I also taught music appreciation classes and served as a staff accompanist for a year. This was a valuable learning opportunity,” said Mintcheva.

As a performer Mintcheva was the winner of the 2009 Simone Belsky National Piano Competition in Hartford, Connecticut and gave her New York debut at Merkin Concert Hall in the Kaufmann Center as the second prizewinner of the 2009 American Protégé International Piano Competition. She was also a finalist in the 2009 International Web Concert Hall Music Competition in New York.

Mintcheva has performed in numerous recitals in major cities throughout the U.S. and abroad, including performances in Italy, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Canada.

“There are moments in performances when I feel really connected with the music or the composer’s frame of mind and I cherish these as little revelations which come and go,” says Mintcheva, “performing also allows me to be a better teacher who also can have a powerful impact on a student not only through instructions and assignments, but by example.”

Mintcheva is a faculty member at Front Range Community College in Fort Collins and has recently finished her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Colorado-Boulder.