London Music Box
Gergana Argirova, Founding Director
Ms. Argirova is the Founding Director of London Music Box and the principal ASD teacher.
In 2018, Gergana won Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year Award by PickYourselfUk.
Gergana also won a total of 3 awards in the Bulgarian Business Awards in the UK 2019. She won both the jury and the public vote awards in the category ''Innovation Business of the Year'', as well as the public vote award for the ''Educational Business of the Year''.
She is a Finalist in the Southwark Business Awards 2019 in the categories ''Women in Business'' and ''Entrepreneur of the Year.''
Gergana is also a Finalist in the 2020 WeAreTheCity Raising Star Awards in the category ''Education and Academia.''
Gergana Argirova was born in the second biggest city in Bulgaria- Plovdiv. Her mother initiated the connection between Gergana and the piano, thinking that it would enrich her. Gergana started playing at the age of 5, and now more than 20 years later piano is still her passion and a way for her to discover new cultures, traditions and people.
Gergana strongly believes that music should be available to all ages, all races, all abilities and disabilities and backgrounds. This is the reason Gergana started London Music Box (“LMB”), which brings together mainstream students and people on the Autism Spectrum (“ASD”), without labelling and division. Our aims are to smash the stigma and dispel the myth that ASD students are not as normal as “normal” people are and educate society that they should not be dismissed solely because they are on the Autism Spectrum.
At the age of 10 she was accepted at the National School of Dance and Performing Arts "Dobrin Petkov". After 8 years of intensive musical training, Gergana graduated as a Piano Performance major with honors. During her last year at the National Music School, she was accepted as a full scholarship student at the University of Denver to study Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance. At the same time, Gergana was accepted as a member of the University Honors Program.
While working on her BM Degree, Gergana has been an outstanding community leader and activist. During her second year of college she won two PINS (Partners of Scholarships) Projects. The first project is called the "Bulgarian Muzika" - it enriched the music library at the University of Denver with music scores and CDs of the best and most famous Bulgarian classical piano repertoire. The second project took place at the IKIF (International Keyboard Institute and Festival) in New York City. There, for two full weeks, Gergana met and worked intensively with world famous piano artists.
Ms. Argirova enjoys teaching as well as playing the piano. In 2009-2010, Gergana was a Morgridge Community Scholar for the project "The Little Pioneers," which she created and implemented. "The Little Pioneers" focused on children of immigrant families who are interested in the universal language of music, and would like to learn an instrument, but haven't had the opportunity.
As a soloist, Gergana has given many recitals in Bulgaria and in the US, and performed master classes with some of the most world-famous pianists. In February 2008 she performed the Mendelssohn's First Piano Concerto as a soloist in Colorado Springs with the Pikes Peak Philharmonic. Recently, she has been working on a multimedia project that includes pieces like "Pictures at an Exhibition" by M. Mussorgsky with original paintings that inspired this piece.
Gergana was also a part of the International Keyboard Institute and Festival (IKIF) in New York City and spent a quarter studying abroad in Milan, Italy.
As an entrepreneur, Ms. Argirova has had many interesting experiences. She is a huge fan of The Apprentice and in fact, has applied to become Lord Sugar's new business partner. Sadly, Gergana didn't quite make it all the way to the show! There is always next year!
Currently, Ms. Argirova is living and working in London, UK and is involved in a number of music inclusion projects across London. Her future career plans involve helping ASD and mainstream students realise their full music potential, as well as expand London Music Box to include a variety of music and art forms.
In the Press
United Kingdom
Bulgaria
From Bulgaria to London – Interview for the Bulgarian National TV | От Катуница до Лондон
BG VOICE: London Music Box - the music school that gives wings to children with Autism (VIDEO) | BG VOICE - Гергана Аргирова: London Music Box - школата, която дава криле на деца аутисти (ВИДЕО)
United States
Awards
