Pancho Vladigerov
International Piano Competition 2025
Jury Member
TOMISLAV BAYNOV
Germany / Bulgaria
Tomislav Nedelkovic-Baynov was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1958.
At the age of four, he began piano lessons with his grandfather and later studied with his mother, Liliana Baynova. By the age of six, he had already won 1st prize at the National Piano Competition in Provadia, Bulgaria.
His piano lessons with Velichka Sawova in Sofia were particularly formative. Sawova had studied with students of F. Busoni and Th. Leschetizky, including Gottfried Galston and Leonid Kreutzer. Baynov continued his studies under Prof. Konstantin Ganev, a student of Neuhaus, and with Julia Ganeva at the State Music Academy in Sofia.
Further artistic development came through studies and contact with renowned Bulgarian musicians and composers, such as Pancho Vladigerov, Lubomir Pipkov, Lazar Nikolov, Parashkev Hadjiev, and others, providing foundational inspiration for his growth as a pianist, composer, and musician.
In 1981, Baynov left Bulgaria for Vienna and Paris to pursue his artistic vision.
In the ensuing years, he gave numerous performances across various countries, including 29 solo performances at the West Berlin Philharmonic Hall between 1981 and 1986. By the end of 1981, he moved to Germany and studied at the State University of Music in Trossingen with Prof. Johan van Beek. Following his basic studies, he completed postgraduate studies (artistic education and concert exam at a high-performance level) in 1991 with honors.
Master classes with distinguished musicians such as Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Viktor Merzhanov, Alexis Weissenberg, and Rudolf Kehrer further enriched his education.
In 1982, Baynov began teaching at various German music schools and later worked as an accompanist and chamber musician, including at Trossingen Music University, where he took over Johan van Beek’s piano class in 1988 and again in 1993. From 1992 to 1997, he was a lecturer at the Trossingen Conservatory. Baynov won numerous prizes and awards at international piano competitions in Bulgaria, Italy, Portugal, and Czechoslovakia, including first prize at the “S. Rachmaninov Competition” in Morcone, Italy, in 1990.
In 1998, Baynov was appointed as a Piano Professor at the State University of Music in Trossingen.
He regularly conducts master classes in Germany, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, and Slovakia. As a jury member, Prof. Baynov has been invited to international competitions in Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Canada, and the Czech Republic. His pupils and students are prize-winners on both national and international levels. In 2001, he received the title of Prof. h.c. from Chinese universities in Qingdao, and he is also a guest professor at universities in Shenzhen and other locations in China.
In 1989, Baynov founded the Baynov Piano Ensemble, a unique group dedicated to the rarely performed repertoire for multiple pianos, with performances ranging from six to 32 hands.
In 1997, Baynov launched a project with courses and workshops for piano ensembles of six and eight hands. His scholarly work and lectures aim to preserve and revive the tradition of multi-hand piano performance. He is currently the president of the only International Piano Competition for “Piano 6 & 8 Hands” in Germany.
Thanks to his initiative, radio broadcasts featuring six- and multi-handed piano music, as well as interviews and reviews, have aired in Germany, Bulgaria, Canada, Japan, and Slovakia.
Baynov’s artistic career spans all five continents, with a diverse array of solo, chamber, and orchestral concerts (including a repertoire of more than 40 piano concertos), and numerous radio and television recordings in Germany (ZDF, SDR, SWF, BR, HR), Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, Austria, South Africa, Australia, Canada, Korea, and Chile, along with many CD recordings.
Tomislav Baynov’s global presence as a sensitive interpreter of a wide range of musical styles is marked by high virtuosity and brilliant piano technique. His effortless performance style captivates both his artistic collaborators and his audience.