Pianist Mia Vassilev has concertized throughout the U.S., Mexico, China, Germany and Italy, and has been broadcast on the Classical Radio Network in Bulgaria. Of her recent concert in Rome, the Roma Reporter wrote “..pianist Mia Vassilev is a young artist who thrilled the public with her exceptional skill performing celebrated works.” Miami Herald critic Lawrence Johnson praised her playing as, “consistently vital and polished, with a nuanced expressive palette.” Ms. Vassilev’s unique programming of important yet neglected repertoire has resulted in critically acclaimed performances of works of Leo Ornstein, Erwin Schulhoff, and others. Manhattan Mercury opined, “Ms. Vassilev lit the reverberant fireworks of Liszt's Funerailles and (the) Etude de Concert with zestful enthusiasm.” At Kansas State University, as a student of Dr. Robert Edwards, Ms. Vassilev received a coveted Presser Scholar Award, the Melba C. Budge Fellowship, the Outstanding Performer Award and was winner of the University Concerto Competition. She holds a master’s degree in piano performance from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, graduating in 2001 as a University Graduate Scholar recipient where she studied with Frank Weinstock and Michael Chertock. Ms. Vassilev was awarded a teaching assistantship in Collaborative Piano at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, receiving her doctoral degree in May 2010 under the direction of Paul Posnak, Ivan Davis, and J.B. Floyd. An active soloist, accompanist, and chamber musician, Ms. Vassilev has performed in the Grandin Chamber Music Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio, and performed for tours, outreach programs, and production rehearsals with Glimmerglass Opera in New York, Florida Grand Opera, and Cincinnati Opera. She has been staff accompanist in festivals such as Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, Italy, the American Institute of Musical Studies Festival in Graz, Austria, and the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts in Miami, Florida. Ms. Vassilev has performed works by many renowned contemporary composers such as Philip Glass, Anthony Davis, Richard Wargo, and Michael Torke under their direction, and will premiere a new sonata of Ford Foundation/MENC Contemporary Music Project recipient Dennis Kam in the fall of 2010. In addition to her performing career, Ms. Vassilev is founder and artistic director of the Miami Piano Circle, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing quality classical music to all audiences.