Being a musician is a family occupation that Nadezhda Yotzova inherited by birth. She graduated with a major in piano from the Lubomir Pipkov National School of Music, and she later graduated from the National Academy of Music in Sofia. Who were the key figures in her professional development? 

"Antonina Boneva, my first teacher of music was both teacher and companion in the most important and formative years in my life”, Nadezhda says. “To this day she is a close friend and mentor. We worked together for twelve years. I am very grateful to her for everything she has taught me. As a child I preferred to listen to the rehearsals of my mother, a violinist at the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, of my grandfather, an oboist at the Sofia Philharmonic, and of my uncle, a clarinetist at New Symphony Orchestra. Let me add that my dad is a percussionist, composer and pedagogue. Going back to Mrs Boneva, her success with me was that she motivated me to work hard. At the National Academy of Music late Prof. Anton Dikov, a prominent pianist and pedagogue, supported me all the time. I owe a lot to Prof. Vassil Kazandjiev with whom I studied chamber music. I then took an MA in Hanover where I was trained by Prof. Gerrit Zitterbart."

Hristo Yotzov, a famous jazz musician and father of Nadezhda Yotzova wrote his Concerto for piano and orchestra especially for his daughter. "I had hard time,” she said, “like most musicians. I faced a few existential questions - whether this was the right profession, was I good enough for the job etc. My father urged me to go on with my education in Germany and helped me see what I had to do at that stage. The concerto he wrote satisfied my desire to get deep into his music. I myself teach little children and I can see how their faces shine when they do things well in music. I suppose that this feeling of happiness made me a professional musician.”

As a student at the National School of Music Nadezhda Yotzova won a few competitions however she is no longer keen on these events. She is convinced a professional musician can do perfectly without them. 

"Competitions are something normal, especially for young people. Aged 12, I won my first prize from a competition for young music talents, and then other prizes in Varna and Edirne. I am convinced that a good career is fully feasible without competitions. However they are part of the matrix, and anybody willing to become a professional musician he or she must pass through this kind of experience. Bela Bartok, one of my favorite composers once said, 'Competitions are for horses, not artists'. Music is not a race: we do not throw javelins or clock seconds. And certainly we don't have to swim through the ocean. We create music and this cannot be clocked, measured. Everyone is unique, with a unique point of view. One cannot be loved and liked by all. Prizes are a good thing but they are not that important. I am mostly motivated by the love of music and that I feel it is my vocation.” 

At the end of October famous Bulgarian violinist Stoyka Milanova will mark an important anniversary at the National School of Music. Her partner will be Nadezhda Yotzova, piano.

 
English Daniela Konstantinova

The audio file contains the following pieces:

1. Concerto for piano and orchestra by Hristo Yotzov in the rendition of the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, soloist Nadezhda Yotzova

2. Toccatina by Hristo Yotzov performed by Nadezhda Yotzova, piano