Stoĭka Milanova

Stoika Trendafilova Milanova (also Stoyka; ; 5 August 1945 – 29 September 2024) was a Bulgarian classical violinist who had an international career.

Milanova was taught by her father using a method that he developed, and later by the violinist David Oistrakh. After placing second in the Queen Elisabeth Competition (1967) and winning the Carl Flesch Competition (1970), Milanova began an international career as a soloist and recitalist, which was at its height during the 1970s and early 1980s. She taught at the State Conservatory of Venezuela and held the chair of violin at the State Academy of Music of Sofia.

Early life and education Milanova was born in Plovdiv on 5 August 1945, to Trendafil Milanov (1909–1999) and his wife, Yovka. Her father was a violinist and violin teacher who co-founded a music school in Plovdiv

Milanov taught Milanova between the ages of three or four and eighteen. In books of 1958 and 1981, he published a tutorial method, now known as the "Milanov method", beating Gidon Kremer, among others. She appeared in 1968 at the Bath Festival, where she played with Yehudi Menuhin and the pianist Clifford Curzon. and made two further Proms appearances, of Beethoven's Violin Concerto conducted by Sir Andrew Davis (1972) and of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, alongside violist Csaba Erdélyi and conducted by James Lockhart (1973). She toured in Japan with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in 1975 or 1976, she continued to perform frequently into the 2000s, Her duo partners included the pianists Radu Lupu and Malcolm Frager, A performance of Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1 in Birmingham in 1975 was described by Anthony Cross as "displaying considerable technical wizardry" but "somewhat handicapped by a small tone". She played a Guarneri del Gesù "Consolo", dated 1733. and in 1988, Milanova was the subject of a Bulgarian film, directed by Andrei Altuparmakov. She was awarded the "People's Artist" title in Bulgaria (1978) and also won the Rome Saggitario D'Oro (1979).

Recordings Some of Milanova's notable recordings include: Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1 and No. 2 (Balkanton); awarded a Grand Prix du Disque by the Académie Charles Cros, Paris (1972 or 1973)