Georgi
Varbanov

From an early age, Georgi Varbanov sought to express himself musically, beginning at his mother's piano. During a concert he discovered percussion — and it was a revelation. Thus began his passion for percussion.

At only seven years old, Georgi won the most important national competition in Bulgaria. During his studies at the preparatory music school in Pleven, then at the National Academy of Music in Sofia, at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich with Adel Shalaby, and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Peter Sadlo, he won more than twenty prizes in national and international competitions — among them First Prize at the Pendim International Competition for Percussion Instruments, a Yamaha scholarship, and a prize from the Kulturkreis Gasteig in Munich. He also received First Prize, the André Jolivet Prize for best interpretation, and the audience prize at the International Percussion Competition in Luxembourg (2005), with the Via Nova Percussion Group.

In 2009, Georgi Varbanov was named first solo percussionist of the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France. He has since performed with the orchestra continuously, in chamber music and as an orchestral soloist. Alongside this, he has devoted himself to developing and refining percussion instruments and mallets, in collaboration with Adams Percussion, Erho Sticks, and Eckermann Drums.