Dobrinka Tabakova

 

Born in the historic town of Plovdiv, Dobrinka Tabakova moved to London in 1991. Here she graduated with distinction BMus and MMus at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (GSMD) and was awarded a doctorate in composition from King’s College London. Early on, the composer John Adams praised her music as being “extremely original and rare”. Among the prizes for her work are a medal at the 4th Vienna International Music Competition, the GSMD Lutoslawski Composition Prize and the Sorel Medallion in Choral Composition, New York. In 2002 she was awarded the prize for an anthem for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.

 

The first CD album devoted entirely to her compositions - ‘String Paths’ was released in 2013 under the renowned German label ECM Records. The album received high praise from the international press, reached No. 2 in the UK's Specialist Classical charts and made the bestseller list on iTunes. Tabakova’s ‘String Paths’ was nominated in two categories of the 56th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, including Best Classical Compendium.

 

Among the many distinguished artists and organisations to have performed and commissioned works by Tabakova are BBC Radio 3, Royal Philharmonic Society, Maxim Rysanov, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Kristina Blaumane, Janine Jansen, as well as music festivals around Europe, the US and Hong Kong. Her ‘Sun Triptych’ was performed by the celebrated violinist Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica at the Mozart Weeks in Salzburg. The work was also featured at the London Festival of Bulgarian Culture and Sofia Music Weeks, performed by Sofia Soloists, under the direction of Plamen Djouroff.

 

In 2014, Tabakova begins a residency with the Stratford-upon-Avon ‘Orchestra of the Swan’. Her Fantasie Homage to Schubert was chosen by the Bulgarian National Radio for the 2014 International Rostrum of Composers in Helsinki.

 

 

 

www.dobrinka.com