Lora Dimitrova - Leadership

In addition to Lora's work as a pianist and teacher, she has held leadership roles in a number of organisations. In particular, she:

• led the Bromley Youth Music Trust (BYMT) Keyboard Department for 14 years;
• created and led the Jazz Department at BYMT for 7 years;
• created and led the Performance and Interpretation course for BMus and MMus students for 10 years in Canterbury Christ Church University; and
• created and led her own piano school, the Sospiro Piano Centre, for 14 years

Head of the Keyboard Department at BYMT

BYMT provides music services to the schools and children in and around the London Borough of Bromley. The keyboard deparment at BYMT was tiny and almost inactive when Lora was appointed as Head in 2009 but she quickly built it into a large, thriving department. She recruited, managed, motivated and inspired skilled staff (building up to 60 teachers and 30 accompanists), reached out to more than 100 schools and engaged more than 1,700 piano students.

Lora continued as Head of Keyboard at BYMT until 2023. During her time there she created many regular termly courses, classes and concerts, including ones for students and adults as well as children. She also created the annual Summer International Piano School and organised numerous events, such as recordings and trips to museums, concerts and masterclasses.

Lora also created the first piano library for BYMT and a piano alumni database and she was responsible for the purchase and maintenance of BYMT's 50 or so pianos and other keyboards at the music centre. She also helped raise much needed funds for BYMT, personally securing over £100,000 in donations in collaboration with the Anne Richardson Trust.

Creator and Head of the Jazz Department at BYMT

During Lora's successful expansion and invigoration of the Keyboard Department at BYMT, she was asked to create, promote and head up a Jazz department. She recruited a team of specialist jazz musicians and set up BYMT's first jazz school, led by Buster Birch. As well as organising jazz events at the music centre at BYMT, she reached out to Pizza Express Head Office and organised jazz events in their Bromley and Beckenham branches, featuring BYMT students and professional musicians.

Lora also helped organise jazz performance opportunities at local events and worked closely with Buster Birch and Trinity College of Music's Jazz Department to raise awareness of Jazz education and help develop the BYMT Jazz School. Lora was presented with the Will Michael Foundation Jazz Education Award in both 2015 and 2017 - this was awarded to Bromley in recognition of an outstanding commitment to jazz education.

Creator and Leader of Performance & Interpretation Course at CCCU

One of Lora's first leadership roles in 1998 was to create the curriculum for a Performance and Interpretation course for BMus and MMus students of all instruments and voices in Canterbury Christ Church University and to lead that course which she did for 10 years.

Creator and Manager of the Sospiro Piano Centre

In 2000, Lora created and led her own small private piano school - the Sospiro Piano Centre. This employed 6 staff and had approximately 100 students. As well as individual piano lessons, the school provided group classes in theory and harmony, and organised lots of masterclasses and concerts. The school ran until 2013 when Lora's position as head of keyboard at BYMT changed to a full time basis.