The electrifying young violinist Neli Nikolaeva
has been engaging audiences with her heartfelt musicality, dazzling technique and exhilarating performances throughout Europe
and North America for several years. Born in the elegant Eastern European city of Ruse overlooking the banks of the Danube
River, after winning a number of important competitions in her native Bulgaria Miss Nikolaeva moved to Los Angeles alone at
the age of 14. Since then she has balanced an active performing career with the demands of school, and most recently completed
her Doctorate of Music at the University of Southern California. Recent highlights of Miss Nikolaeva’s career
include a concert at the Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, California (broadcast to 23 countries worldwide) and performances
of violin concertos with orchestra by Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Vieuxtemps, Bruch, Bach and Mozart as well as Ravel’s Tzigane
and Symphony Espagnole by Lalo. Recent solo recitals in the United States, Canada, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria have been
received to universal acclaim.
Miss Nikolaeva began violin studies at age five after watching her self-taught father play the violin with
the nomadic gypsies in the street cafes and restaurants of Bulgaria. She left home to attend Crossroads School for Arts and
Sciences in Santa Monica, California on full scholarship and has studied with Margaret Batjer, Robert Lipsett, Alexander Treger,
Laura Schmieder in addition to Olesander Semchuk in Venice, Pavel Vernikov in Florence, Italy and Yoseph Kruner in Munich,
Germany. In addition to Grand Prize in the Bulgarian National Competition and Silver at the Vladigerov Competition in Eastern
Europe, Miss Nikolaeva has won the International Youth Competition for Rotary International, Herbert Zipper Instrumental Excellence
Award, Palisades Symphony Young Artists Competition, ASTA (American String Teachers Association) Competition and Bravo Bravissimo
International Competition. She has also been the recipient of many honors including the Messy Holberg, Westside Junior Philharmonic
Committee and the Lois Lion Scholarships and been on full scholarship at the University of Southern California since 2000.
She has played in Master Class for Dmitry Sitkovetzky, Michael Frischenschlager, Ivry Gitles, Ruggiero Ricci, Ifrah Neaman
and most recently for conductor Harry Bicket.
Miss Nikolaeva also has an interest in historical performance practice and has pursued studies of baroque
violin with master pedagogue Elizabeth Blumenstock and engaged in collaborations with established period players such as Richard
Egarr, Stephen Stubbs, Julie Andrijeski, Adam Gilbert and members of La Monica. She also performs with Musica Angelica (Los
Angeles), Bach Collegium of San Diego and the Seattle Academy of Baroque Opera and is a member of Coprario Consort in
Los Angeles.
An
abiding interest in chamber music has led her to successful collaborations with artists from groups such as Trio Solisti and
the Lark, Audubon and Cassatt String Quartets in addition to recent festivals such as San Juan Islands Chamber Music Festival
(Seattle), Varna Summer Festival (Bulgaria), Portogruaro Festival (Italy), Telluride SummerFest (Colorado) and Newburyport
Chamber Music Festival (Boston). She is also a proponent of music of our time and performs regularly with a few contemporary
music ensembles (Los Angeles) in addition to having works for solo violin written for her. In 2006 she founded the violin
and piano Duo Allegra with longtime collaborator Rose Chen.
In recent years, her interest in performing outside of the realm of classical music has offered her
opportunities to explore rock, pop, r&b, folk and Latin styles. Artists she has performed/recorded with include Stevie
Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Pussicat Dolls, Marco Antonio Solis, Ron Benise, Sweet and Tender Hooligans (the Smith’s
tribute band), Los Angeles Tango Quartet. In addition, Neli has toured with a large-scale rock production called “Flashback:
The Classic Rock Experience.” In the past years, she has been recording for TV and film and has performed live concerts
with John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. Her recent TV engagements include American Idol, America’s Got Talent, Grey’s
Anatomy and Monk.
Miss Nikolaeva has an active and engaging mind and her wide-ranging interests include studies of painting
and sculpture of the Italian Renaissance, mythology, and ethnic dances. She also has a passion for pedagogy and is certified
in the Orff Method (a unique early development teaching approach to music that focuses on imitation and creativity using speech,
song, movement, dance, and instruments) while maintaining a small private studio in Los Angeles. She has been invited as a
violin coach by YMF Debut Music Camp and Strings del Rio. Miss Nikolaeva is currently playing on a 19th-century Jean Baptiste
Vuillaume violin on loan from Ms. Rebecca Rodman of Cremona, Italy.
