Combining a shared passion for chamber music with the uncompromising professionalism of veteran musicians, the Ardenza Trio is the natural extension of the long-term creative collaboration of American cellist Geoffrey Dean and his Bulgarian colleague, pianist Daniela Dikova. The trio was founded in 2005 with violinist Galina Koycheva.  In 2014 Konstantin Evtimov becomes the cellist of the trio.


Ardenza performs the chamber masterworks of the 19th and 20th centuries on prestigious stages Bulgaria and abroad “with vivid suggestiveness and an inevitability that held the audience spellbound. The music reached us just as the composer had wanted it to - fully exposed, heated to white-hot, gripping…”

Following its 2006 European tour, the trio made its debut as soloist with orchestra, performing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in March 2007 with the Bourgas Philharmonic conducted by Maestro Yordan Dafov. 

With support from the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, Ardenza gave the world premieres of new works by Artin Potourlian and Mihail Goleminov during the 2008 / 2009 season, and its Bulgarian premiere performance of Zdenko Fibich’s Quintet with principal wind players from the Bulgarian Radio Orchestra was broadcast on Bulgarian National Television. 

During 2009 / 2010 the ensemble partnered with the Czech Center of Sofia and the Martinu Institute of Prague in a major international performance and recording project based on the chamber music of Bohuslav Martinu. 

For significant achievements in the sphere of musical interpretation, the Ardenza Trio was recently awarded the prestigious Crystal Lyre Prize, conferred by the Union of Bulgarian Music and Dance Professionals, Classic FM Radio, and the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture.