Hasan & Ibrahim

The twin brothers Hasan and Ibrahim Ignatov were born on 15 December 2003 in Shumen, Bulgaria, to a family of musicians. Their father is Denis Ignatov of Bulgarian descent and their mother is Sebile Kyazimova of Turkish descent. They have two older twin sisters, Merlin and Nermin Ignatova (born 1997).[4] At the age of five they both received their first musical guidance from their father and began studying piano professionally in September 2011 with music teacher Marinela Marinova. Now they continue their studying with piano pedagogue Maria Gineva from the Varna Music School.

Hasan and Ibrahim are interested in classical music and the works of famous European and international composers. They want to become world-renowned pianists and conductors, as well as bring their home town to the attention of Bulgarian and international music lovers.[5]

Young pianists Hasan and Ibrahim Ignatovi have received over 70 awards from different competitions for pianists from several domestic and overseas competitions - Bulgaria, Turkey, Macedonia, Austria and Russia. For the short period of two years and seven months musical career, the piano virtuosos Ignatov Brothers have won many prestigious national and international competitions, not just as a duo, but individually as well. Some of those competitions include: the 9th International Competition "Franz Schubert";[6] 7th International piano Competition "Liszt-Bartok-Ligetti";[7][8]" 4th National Competition "Dimitar Nenov";[9] International Competition for German and Austrian music;[10] National Competition "Pancho Vladigerov";[11][12] 10th International Competition "Young Virtuosos";[13][14] International Piano Competition "VIVAPIANO" [15][16] 2014; 2nd International Competition for Young Pianists" Andrei Stoyanov"; 24th National Competition for Singers and Instrumentalists" Svetoslav Obretenov";[17][18][19] International Competition Young Musicians "Ohrid Pearls" (Ohrid, Macedonia);[20][21] 12th International Rotary Music Competition (Moscow, Russia) [22] and many others. At the age of eight they are among the most successful children of foundation "Dimitar Berbatov". At the age of nine they participate in the International Music Festival "Varna Summer" 2013.[23] At the age of 10 they participate in The Award Ceremony of "Successful Children of Bulgaria" of Foundation "Dimitar Berbatov" in the TV show "Slavi's Show" where they are noticed and selected to participate in "Junior Eurovision 2014" to represent Bulgaria along with Krisia Todorova. In the summer Hasan and Ibrahim took master class of prof. Maria Prinz(Austria),[24] later in September they performed their first concert with Shumen Symphony Orchestra.[25]

On 25 July 2014 Slavi Trifonov announced on his show, that Bulgarian National Television had selected Krisia along with Hasan and Ibrahim Ignatovi to represent Bulgaria in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014. They had to perform song with Krisia in Bulgarian language, which the team of the Slavi's Show successfully composed two months later.[26] The song is called "Planet of the Children". The music was recorded by Pleven Philharmony Orchestra [27] and Evgeni Dimitrov, the text was written by Krisia and Ivaylo Valchev.[28][29]

On 9 November 2014 a team of 10 people - father of the twins, mother, vocal pedagogue Svilena Decheva, reporters from two television stations and later Evgeni Dimitrov, went to Valletta.[30] Krisia, Hasan and Ibrahim presented themselves number 2 and took 2nd place in the contest with 147 points.[31]

After their second-place finish in Junior Eurovision 2014, Krisia Todorova and Hasan and Ibrahim were invited by President of Bulgaria Rosen Plevneliev to participate in the "Bulgarian Christmas" concert,[32] which is traditionally performed in the National Theatre at Christmas time.[33]

They visited the National Assembly, where deputies in the hall gave them a standing ovation and Parliament Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva congratulated them for their huge "Eurovision" success.[34] They were also welcomed as heroes in their hometown of Shumen by the mayor and secondary school.[35]

They have performed concerts in Moscow, New York, Vienna, Sofia,[36] Dobrich,[37][38] Dimitrovgrad.,[39] Pleven,[40] Varna,[41] Plovdiv,[42] Sliven,[43] Pazardzhik, Razgrad. Krisia, Hassan and Ibrahim were set to "Event of 2014." BNT.[44]

They won first place and "Grand Prix" for piano duo at the 11th National Children's and Youth Competition for musical art "Orpheus gift." After receiving recordings of Ibrahim and Hassan's performances, the International contest "American Protègè" distinguished two first prizes as solo artists and a second prize for piano duo among 640 participants from around the world.[45] Later the twins participated in the opening ceremony of International children and youth choir festivals "Dobri Voynikov".[46] They won first prize at the 4th International Piano Competition "VIVAPIANO 2015." They received the award for "Dignified Bulgarian" from 24 Chasa;[47] Honorary Diploma for Talented Creative Development from the Ministry of Culture on 24 May 24, the Day of Bulgarian Education and Culture and Slavonic Literature;[48] In the U.S.A., Hassan and Ibrahim performed in Bulgarian schools in New York and the Consulate General of Bulgaria in New York[49][50] At a special ceremony in the resort "Golden Sands" they received honorary dilpom of NASO (National Alliance for Social Responsibility) for outstanding achievements in the arts and culture and contribution to social and European Development of Bulgaria.

On 25 September 2015 Hassan and Ibrahim participated in Slavi Trifonov and the Ku-Ku Band at Vasil Levski in Sofia,[51] along with Todorova.[52]

In JESC 2015 Hassan and Ibrahim, together with Krisia participated in Opening ceremony as winners of the last edition of the contest and on the final night they performed “ Planet Of The Children” in new version. Successes of Hassan and Ibrahim continue in 2016 as Hassan is second prize winner in the 24th edition of the prestigious "International Piano Competition for Children and Youth " Frederic Chopin "in Poland, where competitors are from around the world - the US, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Spain, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Moldova, Germany, Belarus and others. Because of their longtime collaboration twins like to say that their successes are common, so and Ibrahim is proud to be second in the world.

The talent of the young virtuosos of the piano does not go unnoticed after their performance in Carnegie Hall, USA, and they are invited by the artistic and executive director of the World Piano Festival for Young Musicians in the American city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The festival is held annually, selectively invited young talent worldwide with proven qualities. At the end of 2016 the new song Slavi Trifonov presented together with Krisia, Hassan and Ibrahim. In 2017, they won the Special Prize for Composition from the International Competition Music and Earth 2017, Hassan won First, and Ibrahim - Second prize in the second age group of the First International Competition for Pianists and Violinists Pancho Vladigerov and the Special Prize for Best Performance of the Work by Pancho Vladigerov.

Their special participation in the concert "Ima takav narod" by Slavi Trifonov and Ku-Ku Band is not also late. In the summer of the same year they are invited to participate in the Varna Summer Music Festival in 2017. In the autumn they become laureates and winners of the International competition "Hopes, Talents, Masters" - 2017 and 9th International Piano Contest "Liszt- Bartok - Kodally" in Sofia. The young virtuosos of the piano continue their concerts actively until the end of the year, as also participate in the jubilee concert of the pianist Academician Nikolay Stoykov.

In the beginning of the new year 2018 they are special guests in the promotion of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Medical University-Varna. At the top level of their preparation, the virtuosos Hassan and Ibrahim Ignatovi, started the competition season with first prize places and Grand Prix in the competitions: Musical Pearls - Varna, International Competition "Music and Earth" - Sofia, XIII International Competition for Young Performers of Classical Musical Instruments - Pernik, Fifth International Competition "Zvukat na vremeto" - Veliko Tarnovo, First International Youth Festival "Slavyanski Zvan" - Varna. In the summer of 2018 the young pianists were invited once again by the showman Slavi Trifonov to participate in the concert-spectacle in Europe's largest hall in London The O2.

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