Dimo Dimov

Dimo Dimov was still a student in 1956 when he gathered three colleagues into the quartet that took his name and then held it together for decades; with Alexander Tomov, Dimitar Chilikov and Dimitar Kozev it won the German radio competition in Munich in 1965 and recorded for Balkanton and Harmonia Mundi. Born at Lyubimets in 1938, he became professor of chamber music at the Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music, of which he was rector between 1987 and 1989. In 1984 he founded the Apollonia festival at Sozopol, conceived to carry the Black Sea season into September; its programming passed to other hands many years ago. Marin Goleminov and Krassimir Kyurkchiyski were among the Bulgarian composers who wrote for the quartet. Dimov was minister of culture in 1990 and 1991, and afterwards sat in parliament and served as ambassador to Denmark. He was born on 10 February.