Elitsa Bogdanova

 

Bulgarian violist, Elitsa Bogdanova commenced her musical studies at the National Music School L. Pipkov in Sofia, Bulgaria. Later, she completed her BMus and MMus degrees at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (studying with Rachel Roberts) for which she was kindly supported by the Kathleen Trust, The Worshipful Company of Builders-Merchants, Leo Birnbaum Trust. Elitsa also received a special award from the Wolfson Foundation which allowed her to purchase a John Stagg viola bow. She went on to become a fellow of the strings department at Guildhall in 2012/2013.

 

A keen chamber musician, Еlitsa has taken part in a number of music festivals in Switzerland, Holland, Sweden, Italy and the UK. She has received lessons from musicians such as Yuriy Bashmet, Tatjana Masurenko, Alban Berg, Takacs, Belcea, Chilingirian and Endellion quartets. Elitsa has performed at a number of major venues amongst which the Barbican Centre, Southbank Centre, Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Vienna's Musikverein, the main concert hall of the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, etc.

 

Elitsa is currently freelancing in the UK, performing regularly with the London Handel Orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru, etc. She was recently appointed as principal violist with historical performance ensemble La Serenissima, specialising in the music of Antonio Vivaldi. 

 

In 2012/13 Elitsa trained as a part of the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment experience schemes and in 2010 she was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra. She has worked with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davies, Sir John Elliott Gardiner, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vassily Petrenko.

 

Alongside performance, Elitsa regularly works for London Symphony Orchestra Discovery, taking part in educational and outreach projects. She recently obtained a Leverhulme trust fellowship, allowing her to train as a chamber music coach with Pro Corda 2013/2015.