Lora Dimitrova - Biography

Lora grew up in Sofia, Bulgaria where she studied the piano at specialist music schools from an early age and then for 6 years at the Bulgarian State Music Conservatoire in Sofia where she studied with Julia and Konstantin Ganevi. As well as her studies there, she was selected to be the Ganevi's assistant - teaching both their undergraduate and post-graduate students.

Julia and Konstantin Ganevi were both students of Heinrich Neuhaus, one of the most celebrated piano teachers in the world. He helped create the famous Moscow Central Music School for specially gifted children and published the highly influential book, "The Art of Piano Playing". Lora was immersed nearly full time in this "Russian School" of piano playing for the 20 formative years of her piano education.

In 1988 Lora moved to London and studied at Guildhall supported by a Craxton Memorial Trust award, BP scholarship and Arthur Boyd scholarship and was awarded the Sheriff prize for performance together with her premier prix diploma.

In 1990 Lora was selected by YCAT (Young Classical Artists Trust, formerly Young Concert Artists Trust) for concert representation and began a successful concert career, playing throughout Europe. Lora also won the Parkhouse Award for Chamber Music and has performed extensively as both soloist and chamber musician. Lora is a Steinway Artist and has played concertos with many leading orchestras, performed in most of London's concert venues and has appeared on television and radio broadcasts in the UK, Bulgaria, Greece, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Belgium and the USA. A book about her life, "Lora Dimitrova - a Sigh" was published in 2000.

Notable engagements include live broadcast performances of Bartok's 3rd Piano Concerto with Sir Georg Solti and the London Symphony Orchestra in Dresden and Salzburg and Mozart's D minor Piano Concerto with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Kurt Masur.

Outside of performing, Lora has continued to teach and is in high demand for master classes, lectures and competition adjudications. Towards the end of the 1990's, with her playing career being hampered by injury, she spent increasingly more of her time on these activities. Lora has taught and given masterclasses at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Chetham's School of Music, the Menuhin School, Purcell School, Wells Cathedral School, King's School and Blackheath Conservatoire. She has also lectured at Belfast and Andover Universities and given master classes in France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.

Lora created the curriculum for a Performance and Interpretation course for BMus and MMus students in Canterbury Christ Church University where she taught for 10 years. She also set up her own small private piano school (the Sospiro Piano Centre) in Biggin Hill with 6 staff and 100 students.

Lora started working for Bromley Youth Music Trust (BYMT), first as a teacher but then in 2009 appointed as Head of the Keyboard department where she grew the department from a very small base to one with 60 teachers and 1,700 students. She continued as Head of Keyboard there until 2023, during which time she created numerous courses, classes and events, including the annual Summer International Piano School and classes for adults, students and children.

BYMT also asked her to create and head up a Jazz department from scratch which she did to critical acclaim (the department was awarded the Will Michael Foundation education award for promoting jazz education in 2015 and 2017).

Lora has won prizes at many international competitions, including the Young Piano Virtuosi Competition in Czechoslovakia, the J.S. Bach International Competition in Leipzig, the Maria Callas International Piano Competition in Athens, Chimay International Music Competition and Hastings International Piano Competition and has herself adjudicated for competitions in the UK and at the Bosendorfer International Piano Competition (in Bulgaria and Austria).

She has made several CDs of classical and contemporary (English, Bulgarian and Belgian) music and 2 CDs of her popular arrangements of music for a group she leads consisting of 4 pianos and percussion (Quattro Piano +).