Nadejda Vlaeva

Biography

Bulgarian born pianist Nadejda Vlaeva’s playing has been acclaimed wherever she has appeared. Her overwhelming musicality, poetic nature, and electrifying virtuosity have garnered accolades from many world-famous musicians.  Lazar Berman called her talent "God-given"; Maestro Hans Graf observed that "her musicality and the depth of her interpretation amazed me," and Arnold Steinhardt, leader of the Guarneri String Quartet, praised her as "one of those people of extraordinary ability whom we hope for but rarely see."

Nadejda Vlaeva has performed as a soloist with orchestras throughout the world, including the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Capella Istropolitana in Slovakia, the Edinburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Wroclaw Philharmonic.  Her solo recitals have been enthusiastically received in numerous North American and European concert halls.

Ms Vlaeva has recorded five internationally released CDs. The most recent, Bach Transcriptions, appeared on the British Hyperion label and was selected by BBC Music Magazine as their Instrumental CD of the Month. Its opening track inspired a short animation movie "Ouverture" that premiered in March 2013 at Lincoln Center in New York.  That same track also attracted the attention of Oprah Winfrey, who called it "A musical performance that is almost a dance in itself." Her previous CD, "A Treasury of Russian Romantic Piano" was described as "truly inspired," "exquisite," knockout performances," "extremely well-played," and "unfailingly sympathetic and musical" in Gramophone, Clavier, American Record Guide, International Record Review, and International Piano, respectively. Vlaeva's "Piano Music of Liszt" CD was similarly praised, earning the Grand Prix 'Liszt' du Disque.  Previous winners of this award include Maurizio Pollini, Alfred Brendel, and Gyorgy Cziffra.  In 2002 she was asked to record soundtrack music for the documentary film "In Search of Cezanne" produced by Academy Award winner Allan Miller.

In 2006, the American composer Lowell Liebermann composed his Nocturne No. 9 for Ms. Vlaeva, which she premiered at the Husum Rarities of Piano Music festival that year.  The following year, Mr. Liebermann composed his Variations on a Theme of Schubert for Ms. Vlaeva, which she premiered at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City.  That same year, Vlaeva also gave the North American premiere of the then recently discovered Piano Sonata No. 2 by the unduly neglected Russian Romantic composer Sergei Bortkiewicz.

Nadejda Vlaeva was born in Sofia, Bulgaria and began playing the piano at the age of five.  At age 15 she won First Prize at the Liszt competition in Lucca, Italy. Among other prizes and awards earned by Ms Vlaeva are Third Prize at the International Liszt Competition in Budapest, and the Yamaha Award for the best interpretation of Brahms in Weimar.  Ms. Vlaeva currently resides in New York City where she has performed in the Carnegie Recital Hall, the Rose Hall at Lincoln Center and at Merkin Recital Hall.

Her website address is: www.NadejdaVlaeva.com