Classical Instruments, Singing, Conducting, Composition
Bulgarian Folk Music Instruments, Singing and Dance
Voice
Prof. Claudia Visca
Born in New York, soprano Claudia Visca completed her vocal training at The
Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia. She received a Fulbright Scholarship at
the Hochschule für Musik Wien, where she works for KS. Hilde Rössel-Majdan
and Anton Dermota studied.
Claudia Visca has collaborated with numerous well-known conductors,
including Leonard Bernstein, Eugene Ormandy, Istvan Kertesz, Gustav Kuhn,
Miguel Goméz-Martinèz, Helmut Müller-Brühl, Hanns-Martin Schneidt, Sandor
Vegh, Peter Gülke and Raphael Frühbeck de Burgos.
She collaborated with the following artists and directors: Placido Domingo,
Agnes Baltsa, José Carreras, Edith Mathis, Günther von Kannen, Hartmut
Welker, Thomas Tipton, Josef Protschka, Yo-Yo Ma, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Bruno
Canino, Rudolf Serkin , Siegfried Palm, Richard Stolzmann, members of the
Guarneri Quartet, Marcel Prawy, Pina Bausch, John Dew, Pet Halmen, Christine
Mielitz, Wolfgang Weber, Sammy Molcho.
In her long stage career she has appeared at more than 25 opera houses in
Europe, including in Vienna, Berlin, Cologne, Munich, Amsterdam, Geneva and
Zurich. She played 75 opera, operetta and musical roles as well as in concert.
From 1999-2003 she was professor for voice at the Hochschule für Musik
Cologne. In the year 2003 she was appointed to the University of Music and
Performing Arts Vienna, where she has since led a class for solo singing.
Claudia Visca gives masterclasses for singing and interpretation worldwide in
America, Australia, Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Croatia, England,
Greece, Holland, Japan, Austria, Italy, Serbia, Czech Republic and Hungary. She
is also a juror at international competitions.
Students of Prof. Claudia Visca are laureates of many competitions and
engaged in renowned opera houses, including in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin,
"La Scala", The Metropolitan Opera, Covert Garden, Glynbourne, Hamburg,
Madrid, Moscow, Prague, Rome, Theater the Vienna, the Volksoper Vienna, the
Vienna State Opera and Warsaw.
Violin, Baroque Violin, Chamber Music
Prof. Dr. Jolanta Sosnowska-Kern
Jolanta Sosnowska is a modern and baroque violinist, artistic director, singer, manager, pedagogue and Doctor of Arts. Born in Warsaw (Poland), based in Vienna, Sosnowska studied Violin at the F. Chopin Music University Warsaw (M. Ławrynowicz), new and electronic Music & Violin Performance at the American University of Illinois (S. Bernhardsson) as well as Baroque Violin at Vienna Conservatory (G. Letzbor and U. Engel). Her other teachers and mentors were: R. Ricci, W. Marschner, E. Höbarth and J. Holloway. She won 1st prize at the Paul Rolland Memorial Violin Competition (2004) and the Special Price at The 2nd International Heinrich Biber Competition (2011). She was a scholar of: The Jumpstart Jr. Foundation (2010), The City of Vienna (2020); The Polish Ministry of Culture (2021).
Sosnowska is an active soloist and chamber musician giving performances in Europe, Asia, USA, Scandinavia and South America. As a soloist and Chamber Musician she has been invited to numerous festivals such as The Resonances (Vienna), International F. Biber Festival (Vienna), Innsbruck Festival of Early Music (Innsbruck), Innsbrucker Festwochen der alten Musik (Innsbruck), Bach Festival (Vienna), Laudes Organi (Vienna), Young Talents in Classic (Klosterneuburg), Fiori Musicali (St. Florian), Eckartsau Castle Concerts, Traun Castle Concerts, International Schlägler events (Schlägl), Bruckner Days (St. Florian), Bruckner Festival (Linz), Musical Late Summer (Gurk), Musica Antiqua Festival (Bruges), Vendsyssel Festival (Skagen), The Israel Festival (Jerusalem), “Conciertos de Bellas Artes” (Mexico City), Festival de Cuernavaca, Bach Weeks (Ansbach), Festiwal ORGANY PLUS+ (Gdansk), Misteria Paschalia (Krakow).
As a diligent advocate of Austrian Baroque Music and Polish Romantic and New Music Sosnowska has recorded CDs for labels like Acte Prealable, Deutsche Grammophon, Gramola, For Tune, Naxos, Panclassics, Sony Classical, among others. She has been nominated to the most important prize of the Polish Phonography Society (2017) and has been a dedicatee of numerous contemporary compositions. She gave world premieres of them, including works by Piotr Tabakiernik, Marian Sawa, Nikolet Burzyńska, Peter Rompf, Marcin Łukaszewski, among others (Premieres in Germany, Poland, Norway, Austria, USA, Slovakia, Czech Republic).
Sosnowska is a member of The Marian Sawa Society in Poland, The Polish Musicians-Artists Union in Warsaw, the Polish Academy of Phonography. She war the artistiv director of three Chamber and Baroque Music Festivals in Northeast Poland between 2009-2018. Since 2021 she has been a founder and director of the Viennese concert series "Barockvioline Unentdeckt"promoting Violin Legacy from Archives of the Austrian National Library in Vienna.
Jolanta Sosnowska has led many Masterclasses at Music Universities and Summer Academies in Poland, Austria, Slovakia and in Mexico.
Since 2022 she has been the Violin and Chamber Music Professor at the Music Department of thp Academy of Arts in Banska Bystrica (Slovakia).of her first roles was the Amelia in "Simone Boccanegra" (G. Verdi). Since then she has sung at the world's great opera houses. In Germany she was awarded the title Kamnmersänger. In 1997 Filipova won the "Premio Puccini" alongside Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo. She collaborated with the most important conductors of our time: Herbert von Karajan, Sir Georg Solti, W. Sawallisch, N. Harnoncourt, C. Abbado, C. Thielemann, D. Runicles, F. Luisi, M. Viotti, A. Fischer, S. Soltesz, D. Oren, P. Steinberg, R. Abbado, Simone Young and others. Sergiu Celibidache hired her for the Verdi Requiem for the 150th anniversary of the Munich Philharmonic. (Live - Recording EMI). Elena Filipova has also been teaching for many years. In the USA, South America and Europe she is regularly invited to master courses in song, oratorio and opera, as well as in the Erasmus program. Since 2013 she is professor for singing at the MUK - Music and Arts Private University of Vienna. Many of her students are prize winners of international competitions or look forward to engagements at various opera houses worldwide. Elena Filipova is fluent in German, English, Italian, Russian and Bulgarian.
Piano
Prof. Dr. Dimitar Nakov
Dimitar Nakov was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. He graduated NUMTI "Dobrin Petkov"
(Music School) and AMTII "Prof. Asen Diamandiev" (Music Academy) Plovdiv with "Music
Pedagogy", "Instrumental Art" - Piano in the class of Prof. Roksana Bogdanova and
Composition in the class of Prof. Dimitar Tapkoff. Subsequently, he specialized in
composition at the "National University of Music" – Bucharest, Romania under Prof. Dan
Dediu and Prof. Doina Rotaru, as well as piano at the "University of Music and Performing
Arts" Vienna, Austria in the class of Prof. Tim Owens. He holds a PhD degree with a thesis
related to the study and performance of Ivan Spassov's solo piano and chamber works.
Mr. Nakov performs both as a soloist and chamber musician in Bulgaria and abroad.
He has participated in concerts as a soloist of the National Opera-Plovdiv Orchestra, the
Pazardzhik Symphony Orchestra and the Academic Chamber Orchestra of AMTII Plovdiv.
He has given a lot of performances in the Union of Bulgarian Composers with programs
spanning works by both young Bulgarian composers as well as his own compositions. Dimitar
Nakov has realized premieres of contemporary Bulgarian music and recordings for BNR.
Along with that he has given concerts at international festivals such as "Varna Summer",
"Apollonia" and "Opera Open". He has participated in performances part of the New
Symphony Orchestra’s program and the Ruse Christmas-New Year Festival. He has realized
several chamber concerts cycles with Bulgarian contemporary music supported by the
National Culture Fund.
Vocal, Chamber Music
Dr. Maria Chervenlieva/Bulgaria
Dr. Maria Chervenlieva has performed in virtually every European country. He made her US debut with Soprano J. Abernathy in 2005 and her Japan debut with Mezzosoprano K. Tomiyama in 2009. After graduating from the Bulgarian State Music Academy, she was appointed to the faculty of the Academy for Music and Dance in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and since 2001 is also a member of the International Music Academy faculty in Lilienfeld, Austria and Professor in Vienna. As preferred collaborator of numerous singers and instrumentalists, Dr. Chervenlieva has participated in many international music festivals and competitions. She has premiered numerous works from composers of all eras and genres, and recorded a number of times for Bulgarian National Television and Radio.
Folk Singing, Folk Choir
Mag. Maria Leshkova, Bulgarian State Music Academy
Mag. Maria Leshkova graduated Bulgarian State Music Academy in Plovdiv. She was soloist and conductor in "Philip Koutev" National Folklore Ensemble. Now is she soloist of the world famose bulgerian choir "Mystery of the Bulgarian voices".
Since 1988 she works as teacher in Bulgarian folklore singing in Falun Folkmuzik Festival, Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, "Sedyanka" and "Usmifka"choirs � Danmark, also "Petrunka" choir in Melbourne, "Martenitza" choir in Sidney, Australian group Gorani, Tenores Di Bitti � Italy, Womens choir for Bulgarian music in Stokholm.
Folk dance
Toma Karapaunov, Rhodope Folklore State Ensemble, Smolyan
Toma Karapaunov is a graduate of the National High School in Dance Arts in Sofia, Bulgarian Folklore Dances. He continued his education in the Academy for Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv and graduated in Choreographic Directing and Pedagogy. He worked for the Trakia Folklore Ensemble in Plovdiv. Since 1986 he is a choreograph of the Rhodope Folklore State Ensemble.
