Professor Hristo Krotev Receives the Prestigious “Golden Lyre”
Professor Hristo Krotev, who teaches music and leads the choir at AUBG, received the “Golden Lyre” award in an official ceremony at the Sofia Philharmonic on Feb. 24 2021. The award, given out by the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers, is a recognition of Prof. Krotev’s prolific career and significant contribution to the Bulgarian music scene.
Prof. Krotev dedicates over 35 years of his life to the development of Bulgarian choral art. With his choirs, he has won over 15 international choir competitions and festivals. Among them, two Grand Prix awards, three First prizes and one Special Prize stand out. Significant part of his creative work is with the AUBG Choir.
His author's collection "Selected Choral Works" was published last year. Krotev also created a number of chamber works, among which the sonatina for piano, which was performed at the end of the ceremony at “Bulgaria” Hall.
“The sonatina for piano by Hristo Krotev is not only a pleasant surprise for the listeners who do not know his works in details, but also a certain performing challenge,” said Dr. Rostislav Yovchev, a piano teacher at the National Academy of Music “Pancho Vladigerov”- Sofia. “The pianists have the tempting task of combining very different elements in intonation and rhythm, to create the necessary contrast between the very different parts in terms of mood and to build a convincingly short but impressive three-part cycle.”
Recently, professor Krotev was also awarded the title “Honorary citizen of Blagoevgrad." He has been with AUBG since the very first day of the university. Back in 1991, he and his choir “Orpheus” were invited to perform at the historical day of AUBG’s establishment and since then, the AUBG Choir has represented our university and won awards in festivals in Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Greece, Russia, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Turkey.
Together with his wife Nikolina Kroteva, Professor Krotev established the International Festival „Meeting of Student Choirs” that gathers student choirs at AUBG and in Sofia. The music professor has been a jury member in a number of international choir festivals and competitions in Europe and has led master classes in Norway, Russia, Slovakia and Bulgaria. He has composed vocal and piano music and has recorded on the Bulgarian National Television and the Bulgarian National Radio, as well as on international media channels.