PERFORMING CAREER

Lora Tchekoratova made her debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in 1996 after winning First Prize at the Washington International Competition, where she also received the Audience Prize and the Prize for the Youngest Finalist. Since then she has been a frequent performer on prestigious stages in the United States — at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, MoMA, Merkin Hall, the Ronald Reagan Amphitheater, and the Phillips Collection — and across Europe in Rome, Monte Carlo, and Prague. She frequently collaborates with the New Symphony Orchestra in Bulgaria, where she has performed under the baton of conductors Rossen Milanov and Petko Dimitrov. She has also worked with Vassil Kazandjiev and the National Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Renowned for her interpretations of the Romantic repertoire, Ms. Tchekoratova is equally at home in new music. She has appeared at the American Composers Festival at Symphony Space, the Keys to the Future festival at The Greenwich House, and the Dear Composer series at Scandinavia House, as well as a featured solo artist at the Focus, Summergarden, and Piano Century festivals at the Juilliard School. Upcoming performances include Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with the New Symphony Orchestra in Sofia and concerts in New York, London, and Gothenburg, Sweden.

COMMISSIONING & NEW MUSIC

A long artistic partnership with composer Dobrinka Tabakova has led to concerts, talks, and a commission — supported by the Ernst von Siemens Foundation — for the piano quintet Stone Trail (2023), premiered at the Off the Beaten Path Festival. In the same year, Tchekoratova established a residency and commissioning program for contemporary composers at the festival, with support from the European program musicAIRE and the National Culture Fund, Bulgaria. Since then she has commissioned and co-commissioned works by Dalit Warshaw (Sirens for Violin and Piano), Valentin Silvestrov (Moments of Memory for Piano Trio), Kenji Bunch (Three Madrigals for Piano Trio), and Peter Kerkelov (…then space began to toll… for chamber ensemble and electronics), among others. Upcoming commissions include a NYSCA grant for David Ludwig (Five Songs After Dimitar Peshev), ASCAP Foundation grants for new song cycles by Amanda Harberg (2025–2026) and Dalit Warshaw (2026–2027), as well as new chamber works by composers Penka Kouneva (piano quintet), Peter Kerkelov (a multidisciplinary work), and Dalit Warshaw (a response to Mahler).

CHAMBER MUSIC & COLLABORATION

A devoted chamber musician, Lora performs regularly with her partner, violinist Georgy Valtchev, most recently in Toronto, Los Angeles, Maryland, Florida, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Washington, D.C., and Bulgaria. They collaborate frequently with the World Artists Experiences organization in Washington, D.C. to bring lesser-known Bulgarian music to colleges and universities across the United States, and have given lecture performances at New York University (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World), Salisbury University, and St. John's College, among others. Lora appears regularly in various chamber ensembles, including with members of the New World Symphony, where she was a fellow under Michael Tilson Thomas — with engagements at the New World Center, the Kravis Center, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and on international tours. Upcoming collaborations include performances with Carol Wincenc, Mark Sparks, Kenji Bunch, Randall Scarlata, Bella Hristova, Britt Hewitt, Ari Evan, and Zlatomir Fung. In 2018 she founded the Off the Beaten Path Festival for chamber music in her native Bulgaria, which she organizes every summer to great audience and critical acclaim. She has also performed at the Kuhmo Festival in Finland, the Lappland and Böstad Festivals in Sweden, Sofia Music Weeks, Apolonia and Varna Summer Festival in Bulgaria, and Kneisel Hall and Avaloch Farm in the United States. Upcoming chamber performances include an album release concert for Stone Trail by Dobrinka Tabakova at King's Place in London and performances at the Frontside Festival in Gothenburg, Sweden.

CULTURAL LEADERSHIP

Lora Tchekoratova is the Artistic Director of Salon de Virtuosi, a New York organization dedicated to the promotion of exceptional young classical musicians. Now in its 28th Season, the organization has supported the careers of emerging classical musicians who are now among the most influential leaders in the field of classical music. She serves on the faculty of Mannes Prep at The New School and is a founding member of Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York at the Consulate General of the Republic of Bulgaria. In 2018 she founded the Off the Beaten Path Foundation in Bulgaria, which she chairs. She collaborates with EuropeNow Journal, the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation, and the American Foundation for Bulgaria, presenting leading Bulgarian creative voices — including novelist Georgi Gospodinov — alongside American writer Elizabeth Kostova. This work gave rise to an annual grant for contemporary art collaborative projects, now administered by the Council for European Studies at Columbia University.

RECORDINGS

Her recordings for Gega New and Albany Records have received international critical acclaim. She has recorded for radio and television in Bulgaria, Sweden, Finland, and the United States and participated in documentary films. A chamber music album with works by Dobrinka Tabakova will be released on November 6 on the NMC label (UK), featuring solo, duo, and chamber music works by the composer, performed by the Off the Beaten Path Ensemble. Forthcoming recordings include an all-Schubert album of solo piano works.

Gega New — Béla Bartók
Violin sonatas and rhapsodies with Georgy Valtchev. Available on Apple Music

Gega New — Romantic Music for Cello and Piano
With cellist Diliana Momtchilova. Available from Amazon

Albany Records — Rosenblum: Sundry Notes
The premiere recording of Rosenblum's virtuosic solo piano piece "Excursion," and the vocal cycle "Sonnets to Sundry Notes of Music" with pianist Ofra Yitzhaki. Available from Albany Records

Bulgarian Radio — Béla Bartók Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra A live recording with pianist Anna Stoytcheva and percussionists Svet Stoyanov and James Deitz. Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sofia, Vassil Kazandjiev, conductor. Available on Spotify.

EDUCATION

Lora Tchekoratova began piano studies at age four and gave her first recital five years later at the State Music School Lubomir Pipkov in Sofia, Bulgaria. She continued her education at The Juilliard School in New York City, earning her Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees under Seymour Lipkin, and has also studied with Lydia Kuteva, Vessela Marinova, Jenny Zaharieva, Jerome Lowenthal, Jacob Lateiner, Leon Fleisher, Maynard Solomon, and Joel Sachs.

Lora Tchekoratova is a Steinway Artist and the recipient of the Ivan Vazov Medal, awarded by the State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad and presented to her in 2024 by the Consul General of Bulgaria in New York, Mr. Angel Angelov, in recognition of her contributions to Bulgarian cultural life.

In addition to music, Lora is devoted to running and creative writing. She resides in New York.