Biography

Bulgarian violist Vanessa Hristova performs internationally as a soloist, chamber musician and principal violist and has appeared at the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Barbican Hall, and Konzerthaus Berlin. She is a top prize winner at the XXVI International Music Competition Dobrich, the King's Peak Competition, the Beethoven Viola Concours and the North London Competition.

Vanessa has been invited to festivals including Sofia Music Weeks International Festival, Open Chamber Music Prussia Cove, Festival Academy Budapest, Classic Con Brio Musikfestival Osnabrück, Encuentro de Santander, Varna Summer International Music Festival and in 2023 was Young Artist of the Stift International Music Festival.

As a soloist she has performed with a number of orchestras and has recitals around Europe. She has collaborated with conductors such as Vladimir Jurowski, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir Simon Rattle, and Maxim Vengerov. She has benefited from the English National Opera Evolve Scheme, Philharmonia Orchestra MMSF Experience and London Symphony Orchestra String Experience. For the coming season she is joining the Southbank Sinfonia and Glyndebourne Sinfonia. She has recorded a CD in Abbey Road Studios as a lead viola of LGT Young Soloists.

As a chamber musician she has toured around Europe with string quartet "Dobri Hristov" and recorded for the Bulgarian National Radio. She has been mentored by the Marmen Quartet and Maxim Rysanov. Her chamber music coaches also include Adrian Brendel, Andreas Reiner and the Pavel Haas Quartet. She recently performed with the Quartetto di Cremona.

Vanessa has learnt from prominent artists including Simon Rowland-Jones, Tatjana Masurenko, Lars Anders Tomter, Wilfried Strehle, Máté Szücs and was selected for masterclasses with Nobuko Imai, Lawrence Power, Kim Kashkashian and Hariolf Schlichtig.

Vanessa is currently mentored by Alexander Zemtsov and Nathan Braude. Previously, she obtained Artist Diploma in Performance at the Royal College of Music as a Kit and John Gander Award Holder, where she also completed her Bachelor of Music and Master of Performance with Distinction as an Elsie Gertrude Martin Scholar, studying with Nathan Braude, Andriy Viytovych and Bryony-Gibson Cornish. She is a winner of both the Viola Prize and the Bach Prize and has performed as principal violist of all the RCM orchestras.

Vanessa has been supported by the Orpheus Sinfonia Foundation Programme, the Royal Philharmonic Society Julius Isserlis Scholarship, the Help Musicians Postgraduate Award, the Kathleen Trust Grant, the Henry Wood Accommodation Trust Award, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust Derek Butler Award, and the Stephen Bell Trust. She plays on a Paul Jombar viola and a W. E. Hill & Sons bow, kindly provided by Florian Leonhard Fine Violins and the UMUK Sound Foundation.