NUMTI Dobrin Petkov

The Dobrin Petkov National School of Music and Dance Arts in Plovdiv was founded in 1945. Its early development was guided by Trendafil Milanov, director from 1945 to 1951, and Asen Diamandiev, who led it from 1951 to 1967. Named after conductor Dobrin Petkov, the school provides specialist artistic training alongside general education and gives its students practical experience through ensemble work and public concerts. It acquired national status in 2004. Its alumni include conductor Nayden Todorov, singer Marin Yonchev and violinist Moni Simeonov, linking the school’s teaching to professional musical life in Bulgaria and abroad. A private music school in Plovdiv was taken over by the state under a law passed on 24 July 1946, and its first class graduated in 1949; since 1995 the school has carried the name of Dobrin Petkov, for years chief conductor of the city's philharmonic and opera, and it now runs under the Ministry of Culture as a school of music and dance. It also mounts the national Dobrin Petkov competition, first held in November 1995.