‘I learnt how to be alone, I learnt to work in isolation, feeling good within this process,’ says Victoria Vasilenko on the most precious in 2016. The young pianist continued with her studies at a prestigious college over the past year, won a big award, recorded with the BNR and had concerts across the globe. Having followed her education with prominent pedagogues in Bulgaria and Spain Victoria has always had the support of her family – Assya and Alexander Vasilenko who are both respected pianists and tutors. Their daughter has recently won yet another top award – the George Enescu prize in Bucharest, Romania. Her brilliant performance there opened new opportunities for the future.

Victoria has been studying in Belgium as of the fall of 2016. Here are the details:

‘The Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel is in Waterloo near to Brussels and I entered it in May 2016. The place not only provides excellent training conditions – one might take it for some kind of a special music agency, as its board is constantly organizing concerts for its students in Belgium, Germany and France. This is something really new to me and I am very excited. I met interesting persons over the past year and worked with great pedagogues. I think I changed, both as a musician and a person. The most valuable lesson that I learnt was that I had to adapt quickly to each situation. I learnt to be alone, to work in isolation. Sooner or later everyone goes through this – to work alone, developing his or her own judgment on the musical goalswe are set. It was a true challenge. I hope I’ve learnt this lesson.’

After the Romanian victory Victoria participated in the Katya Popova Laureate Days International Festival in the town of Pleven, where she performed a Concerto for piano and orchestra in D minor, BWV 1052 together with the Sofia Soloists Chamber Ensemble. She recorded the same piece for the archive of the BNR, but with its Symphonic Orchestra and maestro Plamen Djurov.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev