Ever since the age of six Georgi Varbanov knew that his future could not exclude percussion instruments. Only seven years old and as the youngest participant, he was a prize winner at Bulgaria's most important national competition, the Obretenov Provadia 1988, which is surely proof enough of his exceptional talent. This was followed by over 20 awards from various national and international competitions in the course of his studies at the Music College in Pleven, the State Music Academy of Sofia, the Richard Strauss Conservatoire in Munich, and the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. These include two first prizes at the International Competition for Percussion Instruments Pendim in 1999 and in 2005, the prize of the Kulturkreis Gastaig in Munich in 2003, as well as the first prize, including two special awards, at the International Percussion Competition Luxemburg 2005, together with the Via Nova Percussion Group.



Thanks to his collaboration with Peter Sadlo, Adel Schalaby, Justus Frantz, Bogdan Bacanu, and the long-lasting friendship with Alexander Kamenarov, Georgi Varbanov has become a multi-talented artist. He is a marimba player with a broad repertoire, an ethnic music specialist, and an excellent orchestral musician, who is active as solo percussionist in the Philharmonie der Nationen since 2003 and has also performed with the symphonic orchestra of the Bavarian radio/television broadcasting station.



Georgi Varbanov is also active as a composer. Tanz za Barabani, which he composed in collaboration with Alexander Kamenarov, has already been performed with great success by the Via Nova Percussion Group in Japan, Taiwan, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland.