Born in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1970, Dimitri Atanassov started learning the violin at the age of 6. After studying with Professor Anna Ivanova, Dimitri excelled in his studies at the Prague Academy of Arts under the guidance of Professor Vaclav Snitil, completing his Master’s degree in 1994. As a Concertmaster of the Auckland Philharmonia orchestra and a chamber musician he has worked and performed with some leading international artists and conductors such as Shlomo Mintz, Nigel Kennedy, Per Arne Glorvigen, Kiri Te Kanawa, Dmitri Kitajenko, John Nelson, Luciano Pavarotti, Josef Suk, Roy Goodman, Alina Ibragimova, Tasmine Little, Oleg Caetani, Feng Ning, James Ehnes and many others.