Biography

A prize winner of national and international solo and chamber competitions, scholar of The Royal Philharmonic Society and the Ministry of Culture of Republic of Bulgaria, an award holder of the Royal College of Music and Royal Philharmonic Society.

Nevena Atanasova was born and grew up in Bulgaria. She graduated from Dobrin Petkov National School of Music and Dance in Plovdiv in 2015 with distinctions and was awarded for highest academic and artistic achievements. There, she studied flute under Ivailo Vasilev. In 2019, Nevena graduated from the Royal College of Music with Honours, where she studied with Sue Thomas, Kathleen Stevenson, and Rachel Brown. Her acquired musical and stage experience has resulted in successes in a number of international and national competitions, at which she has won different awards including Second prize at the International Competition ‘Young virtuosos’, Sofia, Bulgaria. As a young soloist, Nevena performed Carl Nielsen’s Flute Concerto with Konstantin Dobroykov and the Plovdiv Symphony Orchestra.

In 2012, she joined her school’s symphony orchestra of which she was a Principal flute until her graduation in 2015. During this time the orchestra won a European Comenius Orchestral Project and collaborated with the orchestra of the Conservatoire of Menorca, Spain. In 2015, she appeared with the State Opera of Stara Zagora as sub-principal flute & piccolo. Nevena has performed with the RCM Philharmonic, RCM Opera Orchestra, London Classical Soloists, Caibigan Chamber Orchestra, Goodensemble Orchestra, KCLSO, Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra and St Paul's Opera. She also had the pleasure of being part of the Philharmonia sit-in scheme on several occasions, exploring repertoire from Brahms to Sibelius. 

As a chamber musician, Nevena has been part of various ensembles, including NeKriMa trio (flute, French horn and piano), ‘Mozart’ quartet, ‘Bach reimagined’ free ensemble, ‘Marais’ Baroque flute trio sonata, and the RCM Wind Ensemble. Her achievements include First prize in the ‘Classical ensembles’ category at the Internet Music Competition – Belgrade, Serbia; and giving a performance of the Mozart flute quartet in D at the Austrian Embassy. Nevena is currently a member of Ensemble Matters, with whom she performed Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire at Bloomsbury Festival 2022.

Throughout the years, Nevena has participated in the masterclasses of Patrick Gallois, Luisa Sello, Andras Adorjan, Prof. Georgi Spassov, Mario Carbotta, Prof. Adah Jones, Paul Edmund-Davies, Wilbert Hazelzet, Aldo Baerten, Peter Verhoyen, Herman van Kogelenberg, Andrea Wild, Matthieu Gauci-Ancelin and Mario Carolli . She currently studies privately with Sue Thomas and Robert Winn.

Furthermore, Nevena has developed her interests in music education and community music. In 2021-2022 she was a Wigmore Hall Trainee Support Musician for Chamber Tots and currently works with Wigmore Hall Learning on regular basis. Throughout her studies she participated in the RCM Sparks community and junior programmes where she assisted and led music workshops for disadvantaged nursery and primary school children for 3 years. From 2018 to 2020 she worked for Hounslow Music Service where a number of her students were selected to perform alongside members of the London Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall.

For her artistic achievements, she has been awarded several scholarships, including an RCM Heddy Simpson award and a Zetland Foundation Young Artist award, and Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumental Prize by the Sir John Barbirolli Memorial Trust. Nevena is grateful to the Society for this prize, and now enjoys playing a flute by Wm. S. Haynes.

Awards

2021

Royal Philharmonic Society Enterprise Fund in association with Harriet’s Trust

2016 

Royal Philharmonic society - instrument prize by the ‘Sir John Barbirolli’ memorial trust

1st prize in the ‘Classical ensembles’ category (as part of NeKriMa trio) at the Online Music Competition – Belgrade, Serbia

Zetland foundation scholarship

2015

RCM Heddy Simpson Award

Dobrin Petkov graduates' prize for musical achievements and creativity

Scholarship from Rotary club - Bulgaria

2014

2nd prize at the International competition Young virtuosos, Sofia, Bulgaria

Scholarship by the Ministry of Culture of Republic of Bulgaria

4th prize and Special prize for premiere performance at the International chamber music competition - Plovdiv, Bulgaria (as part of NeKriMa trio)

2012

1st prize at the XVII International music competition and festival in Dobrich, Bulgaria

Scholarship by the Ministry of Culture of Republic of Bulgaria

Soloist prize at the National competition for accompanists in Pleven, Bulgaria

2011

2nd prize at the XVI International competition for young musicians in Dobrich, Bulgaria