Anna Petrova, Pianist
Bulgarian pianist Anna Petrova has been praised for her “artistic, clear and enlightened” performances (BBC Magazine). At her New York orchestral debut with conductor Philippe Entremont, Petrova was noted for her “ultra-smooth playing style” (New York Fine Arts Examiner). She holds the position of Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Louisville, KY and performs extensively as a soloist and chamber musician.
This season, Ms. Petrova is making her debuts with the Louisville Orchestra, the D.C. Strings Orchestra in Washington, D.C., and the Port Angeles Symphony. Solo engagements include recitals in the U.S. and Spain, masterclasses in the U.S. and Canada, and the release of her first solo album, A Slavic Heart, featuring works by Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Vladigerov. Additionally, Ms. Petrova is working on a two-CD set of the complete piano sonatas of Russian composer Samuil Feinberg for NAXOS. She is the Artistic Director and Founder of the Alberto Jonás International School of Music in Valencia, Spain and one of the founding members of the Festival Malaga Clasica.
Prizewinner of numerous international competitions, including the José Roca (Spain), Bösendorfer (Bulgaria) and Maria Yudina (Russia), Ms. Petrova was a semifinalist at the Queen Elizabeth International Piano Competition in Belgium, where she performed as a soloist with the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia. She has given solo recitals in halls such as Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Brussels’ Conservatoire Royal, Chicago’s Preston Bradley Hall, Vienna’s Bösendorfer Hall, Auditorio Ciudad de Leon, Spain, and the Palau de la Musica Valencia, Spain. Her performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio Performance Today, New York’s WQXR, Chicago’s WFMT, and Bulgarian National Radio and Television.
A passionate chamber musician, Petrova is a member of two ensembles: the viola-piano Carr-Petrova Duo and the clarinet-viola-piano Iris Trio. During the past two seasons, the Carr-Petrova duo toured internationally with the interdisciplinary project Novel Voices Refugee Aid Project, presenting interactive performances and workshops to refugee communities. The Duo released their debut album “Novel Voices” to critical acclaim on the Melos label and made their Carnegie Hall debut in October, 2019. The Iris Trio recently toured Germany with an innovative program featuring contemporary composers and recorded their debut album “Homage and Inspiration” with works by Schumann, Mozart, Kurtág and Weiss. Their future engagements include a CD release tour of Canada and Germany in 2021.
Petrova holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Manhattan School of Music, where her main teachers have been Horacio Gutiérrez and André-Michel Schub.
