11.10.09 – Colorado State University piano alum, Miroslava Mintcheva won the 12th Simone Belsky Piano Competition in Hartford, Connecticut on November 8, 2009. The competition began with a preliminary round by recording, and culminated in four elite pianists traveling to Hartford for the finals.

Following a performance of three flawless Scalatti sonatas, the tour-de-force final movements of Beethoven’s Op. 110 Piano Sonata, and four of the passionate Etudes Tableaux by Rachmaninov, judges at the international biennial competition unanimously awarded Mintcheva the Daniel J. and Alice Ford Ferraina prize of $2,000, and a 2-year, all expenses paid, contract to return to Connecticut for additional paying performances.

Mintcheva is completing a DMA degree in piano performance at the University of Colorado, and has concertized in the US and abroad, including recitals in Italy, the Czech Republic and Canada.  She was the second place winner in the 2009 American Protégé Competition and is a noted lecturer and teacher.

For more information contact Dan Campolieta at dcampolieta@ahcc.org.