Bulgarian pianist Lora Tchekoratova has appeared as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout the United States and Europe. At age 21 she won first prize at the Washington International Competition for pianists, where she was also awarded the audience prize, and the prize for the youngest finalist. Subsequently, Ms. Tchekoratova made her debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. She also made recital appearances at the Phillips Collection (broadcast over WGTS-FM) as well as in Alexandria, Chicago, Minneapolis, and New York. During the 2008/2009 Season, Ms. Tchekoratova is engaged to perform as soloist and chamber musician at major venues in New York, Miami, Boston, Chicago as well as in Stockholm, Sweden. She is a frequent soloist with the major orchestras in her native Bulgaria, and has performed with the Lyric Orchestra of New Jersey, New World Symphony, and the Friday Morning Music Club orchestra in Washington, D.C.

As an active advocate for new music, Ms. Tchekoratova has premiered numerous contemporary works by American and Bulgarian composers. Currently, she is co-chair of the Executive Board of Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York, a concert series, dedicated to the presentation of music and musicians from Bulgaria. The Lower Manhattan Cultural Fund, the Puffin Foundation, the Arthur Foundation and the Kittredge Fund have all awarded her grants for the presentation of lesser-known music from her country. In addition, she has presented Bulgarian music on tour with her husband, represented by the organization World Artists Experiences in Washington, D.C. She has appeared at many festivals for new music, such as Focus, Summergarden, and Piano Century at the Juilliard Theater, MoMA, and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Recently Tchekoratova performed at the American Composers' Festival in New York's Symphony Space, and the Keys to the Future festival for new and recent piano music at Greenwich House, New York.

Lora Tchekoratova is a dedicated chamber musician. She frequently performs with her husband, violinist Georgy Valtchev. This season they presented a series of concerts in Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York. She also appears regularly in various chamber music programs with members of the New World Symphony, where she was a fellow for two seasons under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. These collaborations led her to performances in Miami (at the Lincoln Theater,) Palm Beach (Kravis Center,) New York (Union Club), as well as on tours in Boston, Long Island; and abroad in Prague, Rome, and Monte Carlo. She has also been a featured artist at many international festivals, including Kuhmo Nuori Musikii in Finland; Lappland Festspel in Sweden; Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill, Maine; Apolonia, and Sofia Music Weeks in Bulgaria.

Lora Tchekoratova began her piano studies at age four and gave her first recital five years later at the State Music School in Sofia, Bulgaria. At age eighteen, she continued her studies at The Juilliard School in New York City, where she received her Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees as a student of Seymour Lipkin. Other teachers include Lydia Kuteva, Vessela Marinova, Prof. Jenny Zaharieva, and Oxana Yablonskaya. Currently she serves on the faculties of the 92nd Street Y School of Music and the Kneisel Hall Adult Chamber Music Institute in Blue Hill, Maine. She has made numerous recordings for Radio and Television in Bulgaria, Sweden, Finland, and the US. Gega New released her first chamber music CD, collaboration with Georgy Valtchev, featuring works for Violin and Piano by Bartók, in March 2008. Currently, she is working on another project for Gega New: a recording with cellist Diliana Momtchilova, featuring romantic works for Violoncello and Piano. This, her second CD, is expected to be released in the spring of 2009. Lora resides in New York with her husband Georgy Valtchev and son, Ivan.