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Stephen Kovacevich is one of the most searching interpreters, never afraid to take both technical and musical risks in order to achieve maximum expressive impact. As a pianist he has won unsurpassed admiration for his playing, non-more than from Leopold Stokowski who wrote: “You do with your feet what I try to do with my Philadelphia Orchestra”.
Born in Los Angeles, Stephen Kovacevich laid the foundation for his career as concert pianist at the age of eleven. After moving to England to study with Dame Myra Hess, Stephen made his European debut at Wigmore Hall in 1961. Since then he has appeared with many of the world’s finest orchestras and conductors including Hans Graf, Bernard Haitink, Kurt Masur, Simon Rattle and Georg Solti. In addition, he has forged many longstanding professional relationships, most notably with Colin Davis with whom he made numerous outstanding recordings, including the legendary Bartok Piano Concerto No.2 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Recent and upcoming recital highlights include an extensive tour of the Far East, recitals in Paris, Berlin, Boston, Zagreb, Dublin and Cardiff, alongside two live BBC Radio 3 broadcasts from St George’s Hall, Bristol and Wigmore Hall. His recent concerto highlights include a triumphant return to Montreal Symphony Orchestra (under David Zinman), Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra (with Sylvain Cambreling), Malaysian Philharmonic (Jacek Kaspszyk), Orchestre de chambre de Paris (John Nelson) and Sydney Symphony Orchestra (Vladimir Ashkenazy). Stephen recently performed to a sell-out audience for his recital at the International Piano Series at the Queen Elisabeth Hall in London. In addition, Stephen is a regular soloist at the Verbier and Lugano festivals.
Stephen is a committed chamber musician who has collaborated with Jacqueline du Pré ( with whom he recorded their celebrated recording of Beethoven’s Sonatas No. 3 and 5), Martha Agerich, Steven Isserlis, Nicola Benedetti, Nigel Kennedy, Lynn Harrell, Gautier Capuçon, Renaud Capuçon, Kyung-wha Chung, Truls Mørk, Emmanuel Pahud, Anna Larsson, Alina Ibragimova, Philippe Graffin, Joseph Suk and the Amadeus, Belcea and-Cleveland Quartets.
Stephen Kovacevich has enjoyed an illustrious long-term relationship with recording companies Philips and EMI. To celebrate his 75th birthday, Decca has released a Limited Edition 25 CD Box Set of his entire recorded legacy for Philips. In 2008 Stephen Kovacevich recorded Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations exactly 40 years after his first recording of the work. This Onyx recording won him the 2009 Classic FM Gramophone Editor’s Choice Award and the ‘Top Choice’ by Gramophone Magazine in September 2015, to quote: “his seasoned yet fearless mastery reveals something new with each hearing”.
Born in Athens, Greece in September of 1996, son to a ballet dancer, a banker and future brother to a then unborn sister, at the age of 5, I declared my love for the flute, practiced and performed in all the places I have lived and in the airplane in between.
When I realised my love for music and after a long year of trying to persuade both of my parents, I enrolled at the National Conservatory in Athens and received my first lessons from Ms. Myrto Tsakiri.
After having moved to Bulgaria with my family, at the age of 13 I was accepted at the National Music School of Sofia “NMU Lyubomir Pipkov”, to study under Prof. Georgi Spassov. In 2011, after participating in Prof. Robert Winn’s masterclass, I was lucky enough to begin working with him, on an intermittent basis. In 2012 ,thanks to his referral, I met Prof. Greiss-Armin and her assistant Matthias Allin at their annual masterclass in Thomashoff, a meeting that marked the next stage of my musical development.
In June of 2013, at the age of 16, I was accepted to study with them at the Music University of Karlsruhe and graduated in July of 2018 with distinctions. In February 2016, I was selected to be the only student representative in the committee that would select the new flute professor in our university, Prof. Pirmin Grehl.
During my studies, I regularly premiered different pieces from the composition class of Prof. W. Rihm and was often invited to perform as a member of both youth and professional orchestras like the State Theater of Karlsruhe, Kölner Kammerorchester, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France between others.
Searching for inspiration is a never-ending and vitally crucial journey in one’s life. In my case some of the most inspiring figures have been Maestro Zubin Mehta whom I saw for the first time on stage in 2005 conducting “Carmen”, Maestro Christoph Eschenbach whose recordings I grew up with, Maestro Yutaka Sado conducting one of the most impressive performances of the “Requiem” by G. Verdi. I consider myself extraordinarily lucky and privileged to have had the opportunity to learn from and be invited to collaborate with them as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician.
In June of 2021 I had the great honour of being invited as a soloist with the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra under the baton of the legendary Mo. Gergiev.
As a chamber musician I have collaborated with artists like Vilde Frang, Matthias Goerne, Nicolas Altstaedt, Daniel Hope, Vilde Frang, Chen Reiss, Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Noah Bendix-Balgley and Marisol Montalvo between others and have had teacher and mentors like Mathieu Dufour, Vangelis Papathanassiou, Petra Müllejans, Henrick Wiese, Peter Lukas Graf.
As a soloist I have been honoured with the “Music: Landschaft Westfalen Festival Award”(2021), the “Leonard Bernstein Award” from the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival (2020), the “Lotto Prize” from the Rheingau Festival (2019) and have been awarded with numerous prizes from International Competitions. In 2021 I was accepted into the Development Programme of the Orpheum Foundation for the Advancement of Young Soloists.
Past and upcoming performances and recordings include : the World Premiere of “für Inge” of Leonard Bernstein and “Lamentation” of Craig Urquhart, the World Premiere of the “Zorbas Suite” by M. Theodorakis and A. Wastor which I commissioned together with the Young Euro Classic Festival, the NCPA Orchestra (Beijing), Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra (St. Petersburg), Athens State Symphony Orchestra (Greece), HR Symphony Orchestra (Frankfurt), Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo), Munich Symphony Orchestra between many others.
My ultimate dream is to understand and serve music to its fullest extent, which has led me to explore all possible variations of my instrument like the Shakuhachi and the Traverse flute to the Contrabass flute. Keen on musical experimentation, I have often joined different bands, groups and world renowned artists on stage like Richard Smith, Tico Pierhagen, Vassilis Rakopoulos with whom we meander through musical forms ranging from free jazz to hard rock.
In 2016 I assisted in organizing the 3rd edition of the “Santorini Arts Factory” festival and the following year I was appointed “Music Director”. Shortly after, I was appointed First Principal Flute of the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, a post that I left in July of 2018 to continue my studies with Prof. Bernold at the Conservatoire National Superieur in Paris and to further pursue my career.
Young Polish pianist Michał Biel’s collaborations have already taken him to the world’s most celebrated concert halls, including London’s Wigmore Hall, and Carnegie Hall and the Alice Tully Hall in New York. He has also appeared in recital on such eminent international stages as at the Oper Frankfurt, Opéra de Lille and the Polish National Opera. Countertenor Jakub Józef Orlínski is a regular chamber collaborator. Meanwhile it was with American bass Alexander Rosen that he won Second Prize at the 2018 Hugo Wolf International Art Song Competition in Stuttgart, and together they are laureates of the Academy Orsay-Royaumont. Further accolades include Best Young Accompanist at the 2015 Grand Prix de l’Opéra contest in Bucharest. Biel holds residencies as a collaborative pianist at the Juilliard School Vocal Arts Department and the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie in Neumarkt.
Internationally recognized as one of today’s most acclaimed and admired pianists, Yefim Bronfman stands among a handful of artists regularly sought by festivals, orchestras, conductors and recital series. His commanding technique, power and exceptional lyrical gifts are consistently acknowledged by the press and audiences alike.
Following summer festival appearances in Verbier and Salzburg and on tour with mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena, the 2022/2023 season begins with the opening week of the Chicago Symphony followed by return visits to New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh, Houston, Philadelphia, New World, Pacific, Madison, New Jersey, Toronto and Montreal symphonies. In Europe he will tour with Rotterdam Philharmonic and can also be heard with Berlin Philharmonic, Bayerischer Rundfunk (Munich), Bamberg, Dresden Staatskapelle, Maggio Fiorentino and Zurich Opera orchestras.
Born in Tashkent in the Soviet Union, Yefim Bronfman immigrated to Israel with his family in 1973, where he studied with pianist Arie Vardi, head of the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University. In the United States, he studied at The Juilliard School, Marlboro School of Music, and the Curtis Institute of Music, under Rudolf Firkusny, Leon Fleisher, and Rudolf Serkin. A recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize, one of the highest honors given to American instrumentalists, in 2010 he was further honored as the recipient of the Jean Gimbel Lane prize in piano performance from Northwestern University and in 2015 with an honorary doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music.
From an early age, Anna demonstrated an innate musical maturity and astounding technical abilities. Her live recording of Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto has more than 30 million views on YouTube and is highly acclaimed by critics and world-renowned musicians. She regularly performs at the world’s most prestigious concert halls such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Tonhalle Zürich, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, and many others.
As a soloist, Anna has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Yomiuri Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Netherlands Philharmonic, and more. Called the ‘house pianist’ (Telegraaf) of the Concertgebouw, Anna has performed there more than 30 times as well as in numerous online and television broadcasts. Anna is currently artist-in-residence at the Haarlem Philharmonie in the Netherlands. She is a regular guest at leading music festivals such as the The Menuhin Festival in Switzerland, Stift Music Festival in the Netherlands, Festival de Sintra in Portugal, Ravinia Festival in the USA, and at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in France.
In 2018, Anna signed with Channel Classics Records for a series of recordings. By the end of 2022, she will have released three solo piano albums, four chamber music albums, and all of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos with the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen. “Her technique is fluent but never facile (…) demonstrating Fedorova’s fire and theatrical qualities”, BBC Music Magazine’s 5+5 star-review of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Preludes, and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.
Anna graduated from the Lysenko School of Music in Kyiv with Borys Fedorov and the Accademia Pianistica in Imola, Italy, with Leonid Margarius. She received her Master’s degree and Artist Diploma at the Royal College of Music, London, under the guidance of Norma Fisher. Her mentors include Alfred Brendel, Menahem Pressler, Steven Isserlis, and András Schiff.
Swedish cellist Frans Helmerson began his musical training with Guido Vecchi in Gothenburg before moving on to study with Giuseppe Selmi in Rome and William Pleeth in London. Sergiu Celibidache and his mentor Mstislav Rostropovich also played a very influential role in his artistic development. In 1971, he won the renowned Cassado Competition in Florence – the first of many distinctions. Tours have taken him to other countries in Europe as well as to Japan, Russia, South America, Australia, New Zealand and the USA.
Frans Helmerson plays with many well-known orchestras and receives outstanding critical acclaim for his concerts and recordings. His recording of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with Neeme Järvi and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra was acknowledged as the “best recording currently available on the market”. His recording of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No 1 is also highly praised.
Frans Helmerson’s love of chamber music is another important driving force in his musical endeavours. He is a regular guest at the major European festivals, including the Verbier Festival, the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades and the Ravinia Festival, and spent many years as the artistic director of the Umea-Korsholm International Chamber Music Festival. In 2002 he co-founded the Michelangelo String Quartet.
In addition to his career as a soloist, chamber musician and conductor, Frans Helmerson taught for several years as a professor at the conservatories in Cologne and in Madrid. From 2011 to 2016 he has been teaching as a guest professor at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin. 2016 saw him gain an additional professorship at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin. Frans Helmerson has been teaching on the Kronberg Academy Study Programmes as a principal professor since 2006. He plays a cello by Stefan-Peter Greiner.
Nelson Freire has long been seen as a connoisseur’s pianist, but a series of superb recordings have raised his profile to the extent that he is now thought of as one of today’s universally recognised great musicians. Whether playing the great warhorses of the repertoire or the gentlest miniatures, he brings to his performances a level of quiet thoughtfulness that puts him in a class of his own.
Born in Boa Esperança, Brazil, he began piano lessons at the age of three with Nise Obino and Lucia Branco, who had worked with a pupil of Liszt. He made his first public appearance at the age of five playing Mozart’s Sonata K. 331. In 1957, after winning a grant at the Rio de Janeiro International Piano Competition with Beethoven’s Emperor concerto, he went to Vienna to study with Bruno Seidlhofer, teacher of Friedrich Gulda. Seven years later he won the Dinu Lipatti Medal in London and first prize at the International Vianna da Motta Competition in Lisbon.
Since his international career began in 1959, Freire has appeared at virtually every important musical centre, in recital and working with countless distinguished conductors and orchestras. A great musical collaborator, he has toured extensively with Martha Argerich, with whom he shares a long-time musical collaboration and friendship. They have recorded several discs together, including a live recital from the Salzburg Festival.
He has an extensive discography and was included by Philips in its historic series Great Pianists of the 20th Century, released in 1999. He has been an exclusive Decca artist since 2001, his releases including major works by Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Debussy, Liszt, as well as the two Brahms Concertos with the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly. The Chopin bicentenary year of 2010 saw two new releases by Freire: his recording of the complete Nocturnes and a recital album. In the Liszt bicentenary year of 2011 Decca released his recital album Harmonies du Soir. An album of his compatriot Villa-Lobos, Brasileiro, was released in summer 2012.
In October 2014 he celebrated his 70th birthday with the first release in a Beethoven concerto cycle with Riccardo Chailly and the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, coupling the Emperor concerto with the Sonata Op 111. It was followed by a recording of the Chopin F minor concerto with the Gurzenich Orchestra Köln under Lionel Bringuier, prompting BBC Music Magazine to say: “. . . it would be a rare connoisseur not to recognise a major master in the lyrical, rhythmically buoyant, spiritually abundant playing here”. Radio Days, a two-CD collection of concerto radio broadcasts from 1968 to 1979, included repertoire Freire had never recorded commercially, as well as his legendary Paris debut in Tchaikovsky’s first concerto with Masur in 1969. In March 2016 comes his first recorded recital of the music of Bach, featuring four great keyboard works and a collection of shorter pieces and arrangements.
Freire will be including Bach in recitals during spring 2016 in Lyon, Paris, Berlin, Perugia, Baltimore, San Francisco, Palo Alto and Vancouver. His diary also has two recitals in his native Brazil and dates in Finland, Luxembourg, France and Germany, with Beethoven and Brahms concertos featuring prominently.
In March 2007, Nelson Freire was appointed a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres by the French government and in January 2011 he was made a Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion de’Honneur, the French government’s highest award to a foreigner.
“Few pianists alive convey the sheer joy and exhilaration of being masters of their craft more vividly and uncomplicatedly than Nelson Freire.” – The Guardian
source: https://www.deccaclassics.com/fr/artist/freire/biography
Pamela Frank has established an outstanding international reputation across an unusually varied range of performing activity. As a soloist she has performed with leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Berlin Philharmonic and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Pamela performed regularly with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, recording the complete Mozart Violin Concertos with them and David Zinman and has also recorded a Schubert album and the Beethoven sonata cycle, both with her father Claude Frank. Pamela is a sought-after chamber musician and has performed at many international festivals including Aldeburgh, Verbier, Edinburgh, Salzburg, Tanglewood, Marlboro and Ravinia.
Aside from her devotion to works of the standard repertory, Pamela has performed and recorded a number of contemporary works. Her accomplishments were recognized in 1999 with the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize. Pamela is professor of violin at the Curtis Institute of Music and teaches and coaches annually at the Tanglewood, Ravinia and Verbier Festivals. Since 2008 she has been the Artistic Director of the Evnin Rising Stars, a mentoring program for young artists at Caramoor Center for the Arts. Her newest venture is the formation of Fit as a Fiddle Inc., a collaboration with physical therapist Howard Nelson in which they use both their expertise for injury prevention and treatment of musicians.
Isabel Charisius is one of the finest violists and chamber musicians of her generation. As a member of the legendary Alban Berg Quartet, in addition to solo performances and engagements as violist with various leading orchestras, Isabel Charisius has appeared regularly at the most prestigious venues in Europe, the Americas and Asia. Isabel Charisius is regularly invited to perform on both the viola and the violin, with distinguished ensembles and great soloists at international festivals and venues.
Alongside her intense concert activity, Isabel Charisius has for many years been dedicated to training new generations of musicians. She is an internationally recognised teacher of viola and chamber music. Her prolific teaching activity includes a professorship at the Musikhochschule Köln (2005-2012), the Musikhochschule Lucerne (since 2006) as well as a wide range of masterclasses at some of the most prestigious academies and institutions (including Britten Pears School/ Aldeburgh, Encuentro de Musica y Academia/Santander, the Dutch String Quartet Academy/ Amsterdam, Guildhall School of Music and Drama/London, the University of Arts/Berlin).
Isabel Charisius students can regularly be found among the winners of international competitions. Many of them are also members of the world’s finest ensembles and orchestras. The ensembles trained by Isabel Charisiusinclude among others the string quartets Heath, Signum, Schuman, Navarra, Amaryllis and Belenus as well as the piano trios Atos and Morgenstern.
Isabel Charisius plays the extraordinary “ABQ”-viola by Laurentius Storioni (1780), a viola by Peter Greiner (1999) and a special violin by Joannes Udalricus Eberle (1753).
Sonya Yoncheva has become an acclaimed fixture on the most important stages of the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Teatro alla Scala, Bayerische Staatsoper, Berlin State Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, and the Opéra de Paris. Her unforgettable portrayals of iconic roles have received tremendous acclaim from critics and audiences alike.
Sonya Yoncheva’s extensive repertoire includes jewels of the Baroque canon, as well as works by Mozart, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, and Puccini. Celebrated for her distinctly beautiful voice and exceptional dramatic presence, Sonya is equally at home on the concert and recital stage, having performed to critical acclaim in several cities including Paris, Dresden, Baden-Baden, and Munich.
Engagements of the 2019/2020 season include her title role debuts in a new production of Fedora at the Teatro alla Scala and in Manon Lescaut at the Metropolitan Opera; star turns as Imogene in Il pirata at the Teatro Real of Madrid, as Mimì in La bohème at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, in the title roles of Médée at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and of Tosca at the Wiener Staatsoper as well as at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. Sonya will also appear in concert at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, the Moscow Tchaikovsky Hall and the Sofia Philharmonic Hall and will bring her acclaimed Recital program Ad una Stella to the Palau de la Música in Barcelona.
Highlights of past seasons
Ms Yoncheva’s starry 2018/2019 engagements have led her to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden for her title role debut in a new production of Cherubini’s Médée, followed by her return to the Metropolitan Opera for performances as Desdemona in Otello and in the title part of Iolanta. Sonya returned to the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden as Desdemona in a new production of Otello, a role that she also performed in concert performances with the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Philharmonic Hall of Berlin. She also reprised her acclaimed portrayal of Tosca at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. Performances on the concert platform included Rossini’s Stabat Mater at the Philharmonie of Paris, gala concerts at the Teatro alla Scala, the Opéra de Paris, the Wiener Staatsoper and the Grafenegg Festival, recitals at the Monte-Carlo Opéra, Teatro Real of Madrid, Rosey Concert Hall and Teatro del Lago Frutillar (Chile) as well as solo concerts at the Berliner Philharmonie, The Broad Stage of Santa Monica, Hungarian State Opera in Budapest, Liège Opera House, Teatro del Bicentenario in Guanajuato (Mexico) and Mexico City.
Sonya Yoncheva began the 2017/18 season in Paris, where she made her debut as Élisabeth de Valois in a new production of Verdi’s Don Carlos, followed by performances in one of her signature roles, Mimì, in a new staging of Puccini’s La bohème, all for the Opéra de Paris. She then travelled to New York’s Metropolitan Opera, where she made her highly praised debut in the title role of a new production of Puccini’s Tosca, and reprised her portrayal of Mimì in La bohème. Additionally, Ms Yoncheva debuted in the title role of Verdi’s Luisa Miller in the first Met performances of the opera in more than ten years. Following this string of engagements, Sonya Yoncheva made her role debut as Imogene in a new production of Il pirata at the Teatro alla Scala and starred as Poppea in a new staging of L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Salzburg Festival. Sonya sang in concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Paris, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Grand Théâtre de Genève and Konzerthaus Dortmund on an all-Verdi programme, in addition to being the soloist at the Bayerische Staatsoper’s annual outdoor summer Festival Concert “Opera for All”. She was named the 2017 medici.tv Artist of the Year, and was featured on a series of live online and archived broadcasts in celebration of this recognition.
Other past performance highlights include her title role debut in a new production of Norma, Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann and Micaëla in Carmen at the Royal Opera House, several Metropolitan Opera appearances, featuring her debut as Gilda in Rigoletto and star turns as Mimì in La bohème, Violetta in La traviata, Desdemona in the 2015/16 opening production of Otello and in the Met’s Gala Concert celebrating its 50th Anniversary at Lincoln Center; the title roles of Iolanta, La traviata and Lucia di Lammermoor at Opéra de Paris, Mimì at the Teatro alla Scala; Violetta at the Staatsoper Berlin, the Palau de les Arts Valencia, Monte Carlo, and the Bayerische Staatsoper; Tatyana in Eugene Onegin at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Marguerite in Faust at the Wiener Staatsoper, the Royal Opera House, and the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. She was also a featured artist at the annual Adventskonzert in Dresden, broadcast on ZDF in Europe.
Sonya Yoncheva is an alumna of William Christie’s Le Jardin des Voix and has maintained a special focus the Early and Baroque repertory. Past engagements have featured her in several iconic roles, including Phani/Zima (Les Indes galantes) and Dido (Dido and Aeneas) on tour with William Christie in Europe, Russia and the US; La Fortuna (L’incoronazione di Poppea) at the Glyndebourne Festival; Giunone (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria) at the Teatro Real; Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare) in Versailles; and Poppea (L’incoronazione di Poppea) and Poppea (Agrippina) in Lille and Dijon with conductor Emmanuelle Haim.
Education and Accolades
Born in 1981, soprano Sonya Yoncheva graduated with performance degrees in piano and voice in her hometown of Plovdiv, Bulgaria under the tutelage of Nelly Koitcheva. Sonya later obtained her master’s degree in voice at the Conservatory of Geneva, studying with Danielle Borst. Ms. Yoncheva is also the winner of several renowned international competitions, including top prize and the special CultureArte prize at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition (2010). She was honored as the Newcomer of the Year (Singer) at the 2015 ECHO Klassik Awards and received the Special Prize of the Les Amis du Festival for her performance of Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, at the Academy of Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (2007). Sonya is the winner of the 2019 Readers’ Award of The International Opera Awards.
Sonya Yoncheva is also a first prizewinner of numerous competitions in her home country of Bulgaria: “Competition for Bulgarian Classical Music” in 2000 and “Competition for German and Austrian Classical Music” in 2001. Sonya and her brother Marin Yonchev were lauded as the Singers of the Year in the 2000 edition of the competition “Hit-1,” produced by Bulgarian National Television. Ms. Yoncheva has collaborated with acclaimed popular artists including Sting and Elvis Costello, and she retains a keen interest in film music, which includes her past collaborations with famed composer Vladimir Cosma.
Sonya records exclusively for Sony Classical, and is featured on a new solo album titled The Verdi Album, released in February 2018, on her solo album Handel released in 2017, in addition to her debut solo album Paris, mon amour, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and several recordings on DVD/Blu-Ray. Her discography also includes CD recordings of Le nozze di Figaro (Contessa) for Deutsche Gramophone and Handel’s Messiah with the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Ms. Yoncheva is also a global ambassador for Rolex.
In the 2024/25 season, Yoncheva will debut in Brazil and perform Baroque works in Vienna, as well as starring in Dido and Aeneas at Opéra de Versailles. She will reprise Madama Butterfly in Barcelona and perform a Christmas concert at Versailles. Further highlights include appearances at the Salzburg Mozartwoche, Vienna State Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera in her role debut as Lisa in The Queen of Spades.
An alumna of the Conservatory of Geneva, she has received numerous accolades, including the 2021 Opus Klassik Singer of the Year and Officière de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2024. Yoncheva is also a UNICEF ambassador and a Sony Classical artist, with several acclaimed albums.