Bella Hristova, Violin

Biography

With her "commanding stage presence" (The Strad), Bulgarian violinist Bella Hristova engages audiences with equal mastery of "impressive power and control" (The Washington Post) and "expressive nuance" (The New York Times).  Highlights from her busy 2011-12 season include an appearance in RaviniaТs Rising Stars Series; a tour with Musicians from Marlboro; performances throughout the season with CMS Two at Lincoln Center; and as soloist with the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

This season also includes performances with mentor Jaime Laredo as part of his 70th birthday celebration at the 92nd Street Y Chamber Music Series and when he conducts and performs BachТs Double Concerto with her at the Elgin Symphony (IL).  Among Ms. HristovaТs countless orchestral engagements are solo appearances with the Ulster Symphony in the UK, the Orquesta Filarmуnica de la Ciudad de Mйxico, and the Fresno Philharmonic, Hilton Head (SC), Longwood (MA), and Mobile (AL) symphonies.   She also performs recitals and educational outreach throughout the US.

Ms. Hristova has performed with Pinchas Zukerman and the Orchestra of St. LukeТs at Lincoln Center; with Jaime Laredo and the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall; and with David Effrom and Indiana UniversityТs Philharmonic as winner of their 2009 Concerto Competition.  Festival appearances include The Grand Teton Festival (WY), Music@Menlo (CA), Ravinia's Steans Institute, and Music from Angel Fire (NM), and reengagements at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and the Marlboro Music Festival.

First Prize Winner in the 2008-09 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Ms. Hristova made her debut in the Young Concert Artists Series during the 2009-10 season at Merkin Concert Hall in New York, sponsored by the Rhoda Walker Teagle Prize, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.  At the Auditions, she was the first recipient of the Helen Armstrong Violin Fellowship; was honored with the Miriam Brody Aronson and the Ruth Laredo Memorial Awards; and won the Candlelight Concert Society (MD) Concert and the Lied Center of Kansas Concert Prizes.

As Winner of First Prize in the 2007 Michael Hill International Competition in New Zealand, Ms. Hristova made a critically acclaimed concert tour of the country and recorded a CD of solo violin works by the Belgian virtuoso Charles de Bériot for the Naxos label.  She was awarded a career grant from the Salon de Virtuosi in New York and is a Laureate of the 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and has appeared on Garrison KeillorТs A Prairie Home Companion on National Public Radio.
 
Born in Pleven, Bulgaria in 1985, Ms. Hristova began violin studies at the age of six.  At 12, she participated in master classes with Ruggiero Ricci at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.  Since the age of 13, she has lived in the United States.  In 2003, Ms. Hristova entered The Curtis Institute, where she worked with Ida Kavafian (YCA Alumna) and studied chamber music with Steven Tenenbom.  She received her Artist Diploma with Jaime Laredo at Indiana University in 2010.  Ms. Hristova plays a 1655 Niccolò Amati violin, once owned by the violinist Louis Krasner.