Artists

Lora Tchekoratova

piano

Born in Sofia, Lora Tchekoratova began playing the piano at the age of four, and soon became a student of the legendary pedagogue Lydia Kuteva. She gave her first solo recital at the age of nine at the Lyubomir Pipkov National Music School, where she received her basic music education. In Bulgaria, she also studied with Vessela Marinova and Prof. Jenny Zaharieva.

In 1992, on the advice of Prof. Zaharieva, Lora continued her education at The Juilliard School in New York. She received her Bachelor, Master and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees as a student of Seymour Lipkin, becoming the first Bulgarian to receive a doctorate from Juilliard. Her dissertation is dedicated to the piano works of Dimitar Nenov. While a student, she won a number of scholarships and awards, including First Prize at the Washington International Piano Competition. Her solo debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC has been followed by recitals, chamber concerts and festival appearances on some of the most prestigious stages in the United States and Europe.

Lora Tchekoratova is a renowned performer of virtuoso piano music from the 19th and 20th centuries. Her extensive repertoire includes numerous chamber music works as well as compositions by the great composers of Eastern Europe. Lora has recorded numerous times for the radio and television in the United States, Finland, Sweden, and Bulgaria. In 2005, together with other notable Bulgarian musicians and the American Foundation for Bulgaria, she co-created the Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York series at the Consulate General of Bulgaria in New York, whose organization she has now led for twenty one seasons. Lora teaches piano at Mannes Prep at the New School in New York and is the Artistic Director of the Salon de Virtuosi. She is the Chair of the Off the Beaten Path Foundation since 2018.

Georgy Valtchev

violin

As a soloist with orchestras, in recitals and as a chamber musician, Georgy Valtchev has performed on some of the world’s most prestigious stages. In the United States, he has appeared at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, and The 92nd Street Y in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and the Chicago Cultural Center. In Europe, he has performed at Wigmore Hall and the Barbican Centre in London, the Royal Theatre Carré in Amsterdam, and the Bulgaria Hall in Sofia. He has toured Asia, Australia and Israel, with performances at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Beijing Cultural Arts Center, the Guangzhou Opera House, the Sydney Opera House, the Taipei Cultural Center, and the Tel Aviv Opera House, among others.

A dedicated chamber musician, Mr. Valtchev enjoys frequent performances with distinguished international artists and ensembles in the United States and Europe, and has appeared in numerous festivals on both continents. He has been honored to lead, as guest concertmaster, he has been honored to lead several major symphony orchestras, most notably the London Philharmonic and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera of Madrid.

He is a founder and artistic director of the Off the Beaten Path Chamber Music Festival in Kovachevitsa, and a founding member of the Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York chamber music series.

Born in Plovdiv, Georgy began his violin studies at the age of six with Boyanka Shopova. In Bulgaria, he also studied with Micho Dimitrov, Vladimir Vladigerov and Dora Ivanova. He received his basic music education at the state music schools in Plovdiv and Sofia. At sixteen, he won the Grand Prize of the Jaroslav Kocián International Competition for Young Violinists in then Czechoslovakia. After a short study at the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Music Academy in Sofia, Georgy was accepted as a student of Professor Dorothy DeLay and Masao Kawasaki at The Juilliard School in New York, where he completed his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. He has been honored with a number of awards, including First Prize of the Ducrest International Competition (USA), and the Special Prize of the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition (Switzerland).

Mariana Karpatova

mezzo-soprano

Born in Gotse Delchev, Mariana Karpatova graduated from the Lyubomir Pipkov Music School in Sofia. She continued her training as a student of Prof. Mati Pincas and Mila Dyulgerova at the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Music Academy in the Bulgarian capital, and later the Juilliard School Opera Center in New York.

While still a student at Juilliard, Mariana appeared on the Live from Lincoln Center broadcast of Maurice Sendak’s new production of Hänsel und Gretel in the dual role of the Mother and the Witch, and made an impressive debut as Rosa Mamai in L’arlesiana at the Sarasota Opera in the United States. She went on to make her Lincoln Center recital debut at Alice Tully Hall as the recipient of the Alice Tully Vocal Arts Debut Award.

Highlights of her opera appearances include Cuniza in Oberto at the Sarasota Opera, Mistress Quickly in Falstaff at the Michigan Opera, Magd in Elektra at the Metropolitan Opera, Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor and Berta in The Barber of Seville at the New Jersey State Opera, Larina in Eugene Onegin at the Baltimore Opera, The Maid in Jenůfa and Cieska in Gianni Schicchi at The Spoleto Festival USA, Zita in Gianni Schicchi and The Princess in Suor Angelica at Opera Tampa, Brucha in The Woman at Otowi Crossing at the Opera Theater of St. Louis, Olga in Eugene Onegin at the Palm Beach Opera, Azucena in Il Trovatore at the Bulgarian National Opera, among others.

On the concert stage, Ms. Karpatova has appeared at the Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, The Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, as well as with the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico and other philharmonic orchestras.

In 2018, Mariana Karpatova co-founded the Off the Beaten Path Chamber Music Festival in Kovachevitsa, not far from her native Gotse Delchev. In addition to her artistic and organizational contribution, she has also initiated a number of music events for the public at large, as well as vocal training opportunities for young people from the region. She has taken part in the campaign to restore the historic building of the cultural center in Kovachevitsa and other charitable causes.

Ms. Karpatova is on the board of Opera at Florham in New Jersey, and the narrator for their opera concerts. In the last few years, she has appeared in the Opera at Florham Holiday Concert, the Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York Gala Concert at Carnegie’s Weill Hall, as well as in the concert series itself. She debuted as Florence Pike in Albert Herring at the Princeton Festival, and appeared with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.

Mariana Karpatova teaches at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Florham Campus, and in her own Mariana Voice Studio in Madison, NJ.

Nikola Takov

violin

Nikola Takov was born in Sofia, where he started playing the violin at the age of five, as a student of Boyanka Shopova. After graduating from the Lyubomir Pipkov National Music School, he continued his education at the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Music Academy in his native city, in the class of Professor Dora Ivanova. The same year, he was admitted with a full scholarship to Louisiana State University, in the class of Professor Kevork Mardirosyan, where he received a Bachelor's Degree in Performing Arts in Violin. He continued his education at the Boston University College of Fine Arts, in the class of Professor Yuri Mazurkevich, receiving a Master's degree and an Artist Diploma.

During his studies, Nikola participated in master classes with world-renowned musicians such as Ifra Niemann, David Seron, Joseph Silverstein, Camilla Weeks, Sergio Luca, Charles Casselman and Elmar Oliveira, gaining invaluable experience. He won a number of competitions and awards in Bulgaria and the United States, performing actively as a soloist and chamber musician.

Nikola Takov was a founding member of the Kalistos Chamber Orchestra (Boston, 2003), concertmaster of the Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra, Massachusetts (2004-2009), and a member and acting assistant concertmaster of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (2001-2003), the Portland Symphony Orchestra (2001-2009), and the Rhode Island Philharmonic (2001-2009). Since 2010, he is a member of the prestigious Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra Pablo Sarasate in Spain. He is a founding member and first violinist of the Fluencias string quartet and La Cuerda de Oro chamber ensemble, actively concertizing in Spain and across Europe.

Bella Hristova

violin

Bulgarian-American violinist Bella Hristova has won international acclaim for her “expressive nuance and rich tone” (New York Times) and “impressive power and control” (Washington Post). She has distinguished herself on the world stage as an artist with a remarkably diverse repertoire and a bold approach to programming. A recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, she has won numerous awards, including First Prize at the Michael Hill International Violin Competition, First Prize at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and a Laureateship of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.

Hristova has performed extensively as a soloist with orchestras around the United States, including the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and the Hawaii, Kansas City, and Milwaukee Symphonies, as well as orchestras in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and New Zealand. Highlights of her 2024-25 season include a return to the Phoenix Symphony with the Wynton Marsalis Violin Concerto, a return to the Vermont Symphony Orchestra for their Made in Vermont tour in a program curated and led by Hristova, the premiere of a new work written for her by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, and the premiere of a new work written for her by Nokuthula Ngwenyama. Hristova also frequently performs with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and has held residencies as a recitalist at top conservatories and summer music festival programs. She has performed recitals at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston.

Karin Dornbusch

clarinet

Karin Dornbusch has resided in Basel, Switzerland, since 1995, but grew up in a family of musicians in Stockholm. She has a strong connection to both Gothenburg and the Swedish West Coast. Her father was born and raised in Gothenburg, and after diligent genealogical research, she has discovered that her paternal grandmother’s family has lived on the islands of Orust and Tjörn for several centuries.

After studying at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin and the Musikakademie der Stadt Basel, she became an internationally sought-after clarinet soloist and chamber musician. In 1996, she won the Swedish Soloist Prize and the First Prize from the Basler Orchester Gesellschaft. In 1997, she was selected by concert halls in Vienna, Birmingham, Stockholm, and Athens as a soloist in the Rising Stars concert series. She has performed as a soloist at the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm.

Karin Dornbusch has recorded three CDs on Caprice Records and one CD on Genuin Classics Leipzig. Her album “Nordic Clarinet Concertos” was nominated for a Swedish Grammy. As a soloist, she has performed with major symphony orchestras in Stockholm, Malmö, Gävle, Norrköping, Basel, and Zagreb under conductors such as Armin Jordan, Peter Csaba, and Daniel Harding. She is a permanent member of the ensembles Camerata Variabile Basel and Fiacorda.

Mark Sparks

flute

Mark Sparks is an American solo flutist, orchestral artist, teacher, and writer. He is the former Principal Flutist of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. During his tenure (2000-2021) he served under music directors Hans Vonk, David Robertson, and Stéphane Denève, and was a featured soloist with the orchestra numerous times. He has toured and performed with many orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, Norway’s Bergen Philharmonic, and the San Fancisco Symphony. Prior to his appointment in St. Louis, Sparks served as Associate Principal Flutist of the Baltimore Symphony, and began his professional career with Venezuela’s Caracas Philharmonic.

Sparks maintains an active solo career, having appeared as soloist and in recital, and as principal flutist with orchestras on five continents, performing in many of the world’s greatest concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and The Barbican in London, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Singapore’s Esplanade, the Concertgebouw, the Berlin Philharmonie, and the China National Performing Arts Center in Beijing. Over a career spanning more than 40 years, he has collaborated with many great artists and performed under numerous celebrated conductors, including Leonard Bernstein, John Williams, Seiji Ozawa, Yo-Yo Ma, Leon Fleisher, Pinchas Zukerman, Sir James Galway, Riccardo Muti, Mitsuko Uchida, Yuri Temirkanov, Orli Shaham, Yefim Bronfman, and Gennady Rozhdestvensky.

Sparks recently celebrated his 32nd season as an Artist-Faculty member of the Aspen Music Festival, and is a former faculty member of the Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory and DePaul University in Chicago. He regularly coaches the world’s emerging generation of flutists at top orchestral training programs such as Miami’s New World Symphony and the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, and is a frequent guest teacher at major music schools and flute courses. Many of his students occupy prominent orchestral positions in the United States and abroad.

Sparks has written and published several acclaimed book series for flutists, including Exploring Sound, Mozart X2, Resonance, and Orchestral Practice Books. He has also published many arrangements with his own sparksflute publishing, and with the Theodore Presser publishing company. Sparks has recorded several solo albums on the Summit, Pesen, and AAM labels, and can be heard with orchestras on the Sony, Telarc, Nonesuch, and Decca record labels.

Alexander Somov

cello

Born in Sofia, Alexander Somov graduated from the Lyubomir Pipkov National Music School as a student of Stefan Rounevsky. He made his debut as a concert artist in Bulgaria and Germany, and premiered Angel Escudero’s Concierto de Espana on a tour of Spain at the age of fifteen. He continued his studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where in 1998 he won the Gold Medal, the UK's most prestigious music college prize, previously awarded to Jacqueline du Pré, Tasmin Little, William Primrose and Bryn Terfel.

Alexander Somov has performed concertos spanning from the baroque to the contemporary repertoire with the Philharmonia Orchestra (London), the Royal Northern Sinfonia (Newcastle upon Tyne), the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony, and the Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Rousse Philharmonic orchestras, under the direction of Thomas Zehetmair, Paul Mccreesh, Thierry Fischer, David Parry, Marc Albrecht, Lionel Bringuier, Sir James MacMillan, Emil Tabakov and Georgi Dimitrov, among others.

As a chamber musician, Alexander Somov has appeared at concert halls across Europe, as well as in Israel, Japan and Mexico, with partners including Thomas Zehetmair, Simon Trpceski, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Yuri Bashmet, Tasmin Little, Bartek Nizioł, Mari Kobayashi, and Michel Benhaïem.

Alexander currently holds the position of Violoncelle Super-Soliste at the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra. As guest principal cellist, he has appeared with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the SWR Stuttgart Orchestra.

He has taught at the Strasbourg Conservatoire (2006-2013) and given masterclasses in Bulgaria, France, Sweden, Italy and Japan.

Alexander Somov has recorded solo and chamber music for Naxos Marco Polo, LSO Live, Landor Records and Gega New, while archival material with his performances is owned by the BBC Radio, the Bulgarian National Radio, Polskie Radio, and Radio Valencia.

Anna Petrova

piano

Anna Petrova has a multifaceted career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and artistic director of a non-profit music organization. She is the recipient of honors and awards from international piano competitions, including the Queen Elisabeth Competition (Belgium) and the Jose Roca Competition (Spain). Petrova has performed in renowned venues such as Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall (New York), the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), and the National Center for the Performing Arts (Beijing). Recent highlights include her New York City debut with conductor Philippe Entremont, a Naxos Music recording of Stravinsky’s Les Noces with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra conducted by JoAnn Falletta, and solo and chamber music residencies at festivals across North America, Europe and Asia. In 2022, her debut solo album “Slavic Heart” was released to critical acclaim by the German label Solo Musica. BBC Magazine has called her performances "artistic, clear and enlightened", while Ritmo Magazine has praised her "refined virtuosity and underlying passion".

An avid chamber musician, Petrova is a member of two award-winning ensembles: the Iris Trio and the Carr-Petrova Duo. In 2018, she was honored at the United Nations for her work with refugees around the globe through the Carr-Petrova Duo’s Novel Voices Refugee Aid Project.

Teaching is an integral part of Petrova’s musical activities. She is currently the Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Louisville (KT), where some of her students are the recipients of national and international awards and many continue their studies at prestigious graduate programs throughout the United States. Petrova regularly offers masterclasses around the world at institutions such as the Beijing Central Conservatory, the Jerusalem Music Center in Israel, McGill University in Canada, as well as the Meadowmount School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music in the United States. Her latest commitment is serving as the Co-Artistic Director of ATX Chamber Music and Jazz – a non-profit organization curating high-quality concert experiences and offering educational opportunities to the local community in Austin, TX.

Annette Artinyan

cello

Born in 1973 in Plovdiv, Anette Artinyan graduated from the Dobrin Petkov National Music School in her hometown in the class of Asya Byandova (1992). She graduated from the Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music in Sofia in the class of Prof. Bogomil Karakonov (1996) before receiving a Konzertexamen degree and Performing Artist Diploma from the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany, in the class of Prof. Young-Chang Cho (2002). She graduated with honors in chamber music in the class of Prof. Andreas Reiner at the same school (1999–2001).

Anette has won First Prize at the Svetoslav Obretenov National Competition in Provadia (1986), First Prize at the Academic Competition in Sofia (1995), Second Prize at the International Competition "Music and Earth" in Sofia (1995), Second Prize at the International Chamber Music Competition in Thessaloniki (2001), and the Folkwang University Award for 2001.

She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, and France. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Plovdiv and Shumen symphony orchestras, the Sofia Philharmonic, the Academic Orchestra of the Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music, the Wuppertaler Symphoniker, as well as at Sofia Music Weeks, the New Year's Music Festival at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, and the International Chamber Music Festival in Plovdiv.

Annette has recorded for the Bulgarian National Television, the Bulgarian National Radio, the German broadcaster WDR, Deutsche Welle radio, and the Greek television Ed3.

She was Adjunct Professor at the Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music in Sofia between 2003 and 2005. Since 2010, Annette is Principal Cellist of the orchestra of the Plovdiv State Opera.

Boris Tonkov

viola

Boris Tonkov has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and as orchestra member across North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Born in Bulgaria, he started his music studies on violin at the age of five at the Lyubomir Pipkov School of Music in his home town of Sofia – the country's most prestigious music institution for young artists. For his undergraduate studies, he went to the University of Central Arkansas and the Louisiana State University in the United States, receiving a graduate degree from the Yale University School of Music. His viola teachers include Jesse Levine, Kevork Mardirossian, and Jerzy Kosmala. As a chamber musician he was coached by members of the Tokyo Quartet, Boris Berman, and Dennis Parker, among others. As an orchestra player, he has worked with some of the greatest conductors of our time, including Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Kurt Mazur, Claudio Abado, Valery Gergiev.

Since 1987, Mr. Tonkov has performed mostly as a violist, though he has also made appearances in concert venues as а rock and jazz violinist. On occasion, he also enjoys playing the mandolin.

Boris has also been a finalist and prizewinner at a number of solo competitions for young artists, including the Erwin Klein International String Competition in San Francisco, the William Primrose International Viola Competition, the Corpus Christi Young Artist Competition, and the ASTA Solo Competition. He has been a featured soloist with the symphony orchestras of the Sofia Music School in Bulgaria, the Orchestra of the Louisiana State University, the Louisiana Sinfonietta, the Monroe Symphony, and the Ocean City Pops Orchestra in the United States.

Boris' vast ensemble output includes numerous chamber music performances and long-term collaborations with symphony orchestras around the world. As a teenager he was a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra touring all over Europe, and became a member of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in Little Rock upon entering college. As an undergraduate student in Louisiana, he was Principal Violist of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Players, as well as First Prize Winner of the 2000 MTNA Chamber Music Competition. As a graduate student and young professional, his career highlights include annual participation in the Spoleto USA Festival, section positions in the Sao Paulo State Symphony in Brazil, the New Haven and the Hartford Symphony Orchestras in Connecticut, and the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Mr. Michael Stern. He has also performed as principal violist of the Waterbury and New London Symphony Orchestras in Connecticut.

Upon moving back to Europe in 2006, Mr. Tonkov became a founding member of Lorin Maazel’s newly established Orquesta de la Comunidad Valenciana opera orchestra in the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Spain. During this time, he frequently collaborated as Assistant Principal Violist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2011, Boris has been a member of the French National Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg. He has also frequently collaborated with the orchestra of the Liceu Opera House in Barcelona. Boris performs on a Bulgarian viola made by Andrian Andreev in 2013 in the city of Kazanlak and with a bow made by Vlado Tilev in Sofia.