For lovers of the piano, there’s nothing like it.

On Thursday, the first day of Amateur Pianists International “Celebration of the Amateur Pianist,” which is in its 12th year, received a thunderous send off in Colorado College’s Packard Hall thanks to Pueblo-based pianist Zahari Metchkov.

The Bulgarian is on the faculty at Colorado State University at Pueblo. While impressively active in the musical life of Southern Colorado, Metchkov had yet to show his stuff to Springs’ audiences. Fittingly, API provided him the opportunity.

As is the tradition at the celebration, Metchkov gave his own live notes before playing each section of his recital. It wasn’t so key for the five Debussy Preludes from Book One that opened the program. Here, the pianist displayed the technique that has allowed him to succeed in the brutally competitive world of the keyboard. His reading, however, fell short of capturing the dreamlike, translucent aura that the French master pioneered into the 20th century.

George Crumb’s “Makrokosmos, Volume I” received its premier in 1973 by David Burge at Colorado College. Perhaps unknowingly, Metchkov may have channeled the energy still lurking on campus for almost four decades: As prescribed by its composer, the pianist dwelled outside and inside the instrument to realize the otherworldly sounds that distinguish this revolutionary keyboard composition. The sonic product was eerily engaging.

Any question of Metchkov’s keyboard excellence was dispelled by the recital’s second half, which was all Franz Liszt. His rendering of the solo piano version of the composer’s “Totentanz (Dance of Death)” abounded with  pyrotechnics, sensitivity and structural acumen.

Metchkov is an exciting addition to the artistic landscape of Southern Colorado.