By Nick Christophers

Dr. Vesela Kirova had a goal in mind when she decided to embark to New York; to bring her talent and passion for music to the world. She has not only taken the stage at such venues like Carnegie Hall and the Alice Tully Hall but shares her talents with her students. See, Vesela is a professional pianist and a teacher.

She has been teaching the piano to children and adults for the past 10 years. It has given her the opportunity to share the beauty of the instrument at different levels of expertise. Vesela approaches every student in a specific way depending on their level. She is part of the piano faculty at the “Riverside Music Studios” and at “The Art of Piano Playing”. Yet before the pandemic she did have her private at home lessons. Vesela also offered her skills as a faculty at Brooklyn College Preparatory Center for the Arts, “Encore” Music Lessons and Lucy Moses Music School in Manhattan.

Yet due to the circumstances her lessons have been virtual either via Skype or Face Time. Even though she cannot have the one-on-one teaching experience it has been productive and even personal since along with her students they both share the comfort of their own spaces. Vesela’s talents as a musician were recognized quickly when she received an official invite into the National Music Honors Society. Aside from that honor, she is also a rehearsal pianist at the American Classical Orchestra. This garnered her the artist visa which was recommended by the American Federation of Musicians. As we mentioned earlier, she has performed at key venues in New York. One of her favorite performances was at the Bulgarian Consulate in New York in 2019. Dr. Kirova also completed her Doctoral Dissertation on Liszt’s piano music, her thesis was called “The Devil’s them in Liszt’s piano music”.

“I performed a couple of solo pieces, among that one of my all-time favorites-F.Liszt’s “Sonetto del Petrarca” N:104-and also collaborated with two wonderful opera singers to present beautiful arias and duets. This concert is special, because it was presented at the Bulgarian Consulate General and it turned out to be the last one, we did before the pandemic started (but had plans to repeat it at Carnegie Hall).”

Besides the piano she also performed with the electronic keyboard but will be the first to admit that there is nothing like the touch of piano keys. The electronic keyboard cannot offer the same nuance or produce the same raw sound as does the original piano. Since replanting herself in New York she has not returned to Bulgaria to perform yet. But there is a possibility that she may be part of a concert in her native land in 2021 with other musicians from around the globe.

Not to be mistaken Dr. Kirova enjoys other music besides the classical music she plays. As a matter of fact, she does not listen to classical music at home. She typically listens to electronic instrumental music and movie scores. And has recently become a fan of Latin salsa music and even started learning Latin dancing. Vesela has also used the internet to expose her talent as a pianist. Since 2015 she began producing music videos that she had placed on a YouTube channel. 

She has recorded her favorites like Chopin E Minor Concerto, Chopin’s Ballade N:4,  Liszt’s “Sonetto del Petrarca”N:104 and Debussy’s “Reflets dans L’Eau”. The last two were recorded at the Dimenna Center for the Arts in 2019 which have yet to be uploaded due to the pandemic. All the videography was created by Eleazer Rodriguez of Eleazer Photography. Yet there are others that can be viewed on YouTube.

Vesela is a talented woman with a style all her own and hopes to share more of her skills as a pianist to as many music lovers and students as possible.