Biography

Stanislav was born in 1984 in Sofia, Bulgaria and started playing the guitar at the age of five.


He got married at the age of 21 to Victoria. At the age of 23 he graduated the Royal Academy of Music, London, where he won a Full-Fees Scholarship for his Bachelor of Music course. There he studied classical guitar with Michael Lewin. Before moving to England Stanislav graduated the National Music School in Sofia. Stanislav has taken part in master classes with John Williams, David Russell, Jonathan Leathwood, Fabio Zanon, John Mills, Gerhard Reichenbach.

Stanislav is a prize winner of above twenty national and international guitar competitions including the prestigious Julian Bream Prize (RAM, 2004); Ivor Mairants Guitar Award (London, 2004); Andres Segovia International Guitar Competition for Young Players (Germany 2002); 2003 – National Radio of Bulgaria Prize Musician of the Year (category Debut). He also won scholarships and awards from Hattori Foundation, Musician Benevolent Fund and Royal Philharmonic Society. In 2020 he was elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. 


He has released four CD albums: “First Fruits” 2009, which contains his own compositions for solo guitar; “Phosphorus” 2001, with his transcriptions and arrangements of well known classical masterpieces for solo guitar; “Dreams” 2013 and “Carnival” 2016 with arrangements for  violin and guitar duet.

Stanislav has performed recitals in England, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Bulgaria and Switzerland. The audience and the musical critics always assess very highly his playing:

“The audience witnessed a budding guitar star of the future. Not just technical mastery, but an innate understanding of complex music structure, combined with a pleasingly warm yet controlled tone. On closing my eyes during his performance, I would have believed it to be from a player of at least twice his age.” Paul Gregory, Classical Guitar Magazine

    
He is an intuitive musician, able to be consistently interesting, whatever he plays: a pleasure to listen to. 
“High technical ability allied to an attractive musical personality
.”
Colin Cooper, Classical Guitar Magazine