Master class “Piano and Chamber Music”
Lecturers Prof. Borislava Taneva – piano and Dr. Elena Cholakova – piano and chamber music from July 2 to 8, 2024
Concert of participants is on July 8, 2024, 8:30 p.m.
Prof. Borislava Taneva – piano
Borislava Taneva is a prominent pianist, teacher, composer and organizer of musical events.
Actively performs concerts and gives master classes in Europe, Singapore, Brazil, USA, Israel, India. He is a laureate of international piano, chamber music and composition competitions in Bulgaria, Italy, Japan, Greece, Luxembourg, Norway.
Students from her piano class at NMA “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” have been repeatedly honored with awards at international and national music forums and competitions. She is regularly invited as a member of the jury of piano and composition music competitions in France, Austria, Finland, Singapore, Luxembourg, Greece, Serbia, Malta, Bulgaria, etc.Prof. Dr. Borislava Taneva is the founder of the Swiss-Bulgarian Culture Association SBAC, based in Geneva.
The London publishing house Musica ferrum publishes her piano work for children, distinguished at prestigious international forums such as “Artistes en herbe” in Luxembourg, “Edward Grieg” in Norway.
Prof. Dr. Borislava Taneva is the winner of the “Golden Feather” awards for contribution to Bulgarian culture and art, “Crystal Lyre” as well as “Musician of the Year” for active creative activity, etc.
Dr. Elena Cholakova – piano and chamber music
Bulgarian pianist Elena Cholakova regularly performs in important music halls in Eastern and Western Europe, South America and the United States. She has given solo recitals at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary, the US Embassy in Budapest, Hungary, Bulgaria Hall and the Sofia Conservatory in Sofia, Bulgaria, Aosta Concert Hall in Aosta, Italy, Fellbach Musicschulle in Fellbach, Germany, Fazioli Salon in Chicago, IL, etc. She has toured the southeastern United States as a member of the American Chamber Music Society. Her performances have been broadcast live on NPR, Atlanta – WABE, Chicago’s classical music radio station WFMT, Bulgarian television and radio stations.
Recently, Cholakova performed at the famous Musikverein in Vienna, as well as at the largest Bulgarian international chamber music festival, Balabanov’s House Music Days, and in Bogotá, Colombia with violinist Anyango Yarbo-Davenport. Recognizing the impact of the pandemic on women’s careers in the arts, Čolakova commissioned an album of all new music written by famous composers. The project develops as a series of collaborations and culminates in a recording of the written works.
Other notable collaborations include Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring with conductor Robert Spano in a multimedia production hailed as “one of the most important collaborations of the year.”
As a member of the Atlanta Chamber Players, Cholakova has participated in the International Chamber Music Festival in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, regularly performed concerts at Atlanta’s most prestigious Spivey Hall, and premiered works commissioned by leading American composers.
Cholakova has participated in the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina, the International Days of Music Festival in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, the “Sofia Music Evenings” festival in SofiaDr. Cholakova holds a Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees in piano performance from Northwestern University. She serves as Director of Piano Studies at Emory University and Director of the Emory Young Artist Piano Competition.
