Teo Nikolov & Yana Lolova Duo

Yana Lolova

Yana Vasileva Lolova began her studies at the Lyubomir Pipkov National School of Music in 2008 and, from 2018, studied piano with Prof. Iliya Chernaev, PhD. She was admitted to the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music in 2020, completing her bachelor’s degree in 2024 and her master’s degree in 2025. Since early 2023, she has worked as a pianist-accompanist with the Bulgarian National Radio Children’s Choir, performing in Bulgaria and abroad; the ensemble received the 2023 Ensemble of the Year award. In 2026, she also began working as an accompanist at the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music in the clarinet classes of Prof. Sava Dimitrov, PhD, with guest assistant lecturers Martin Saveliev and Martin Iliev, and of Assoc. Prof. Borislav Yotsov.

At the age of 11, she won First Prize at the 2nd International Competition for Young Pianists in Gevgelija, North Macedonia. She also received First Prize at the International Piano Competition in Niš, Serbia (2014), and First Prize and the Grand Prix at the 23rd International Competition for Young Pianists in Vranje, Serbia (2019).

In chamber music, she was awarded First Prize at the Young Virtuosos International Competition in Sofia, Bulgaria (2018); First Prize at the Davorin Jenko International Competition in Belgrade, Serbia (2019); First Prize and a Special Prize marking the 190th anniversary of Johannes Brahms at the 13th Academic Chamber Music Competition in Sofia, Bulgaria (2023); and First Prize at the 14th Academic Chamber Music Competition in Sofia, Bulgaria (2024).

She received First Prize in the accompaniment category at the 21st Hopes, Talents and Masters International Music Competition in Dobrich, Bulgaria (2017), and the Prof. Savka Shopova-Markova Special Prize at the 14th Prof. Savka Shopova-Markova National Academic Competition for Student Accompanists (2022).

She has participated in masterclasses with Lyudmil Angelov, Prof. Viktor Chuchkov, Prof. Stefano Mancuso of Italy and French cellist Romain Garioud, and has performed in a chamber recital in Rome. She was a scholarship participant at the prestigious Musica Mundi chamber-music festival in Brussels in 2016, where she worked with renowned musicians Nicholas Angelich, Jussi Siirala and Iren Kogan.

During the 2025–2026 season, together with guitarist Teo Nikolov, she released two albums of music by Rossen Balkanski and performed concerts in Bulgaria.

Cellist Antonio Ilievski and pianist Yana Lolova formed their sonata duo in the summer of 2024. Soon after meeting, they gave their debut concert in Skopje, North Macedonia, earning strong critical and audience acclaim. Their first professional recording was made at the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music. They have appeared at the Cellissimo International Festival (2024), Musical Painters festivals in Sofia (2024) and Burgas (2025), ArtCello (2025), Ravanelius (2025) and Musical Landscapes (2026). They have worked with distinguished musicians and professors including Prof. Atanas Krastev, PhD, Prof. Anatoli Krastev, Prof. Anne Gastinel, Prof. Denis Severin, Dr Kalina Krasteva, Assoc. Prof. Dragan Đorđević, Benedict Kloeckner, Jing Zhao and Boris Andrianov. In 2026, they were invited to take part in the Musical Landscapes project with four concerts across Bulgaria. That same year, they produced and released their debut album Beyond the Silence, featuring chamber works by Claude Debussy and Johannes Brahms.

Teo Nikolov

Teo Nikolov began studying classical guitar at the age of seven with the distinguished Bulgarian guitarist, teacher and composer Assoc. Prof. Rossen Balkanski, PhD. He continued studying with him at the Central Army Music School until completing secondary education, and in 2020 was admitted to the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music as a classical-guitar student in Balkanski’s class. Teo completed his bachelor’s degree with honours in 2023 and his master’s degree, again with honours, in 2024. He is currently a full-time doctoral student at the National Academy of Music.

He is a laureate of national and international competitions, including the Pleven International Classical Guitar Competition, where he received Second Prize in 2015 and First Prize in 2016; the Academician Marin Goleminov International Classical Guitar Competition in Kyustendil, where he received one Second Prize in 2014 and three First Prizes in 2015, 2020 and 2022; and the 14th Academic Chamber Music Competition in 2024, where he received First Prize together with pianist Yana Lolova.

He has participated in masterclasses with leading European guitarists including Aniello Desiderio, Zoran Dukić, Gerhard Reichenbach, Michael Button, Éric Franceries, Antoine Guerrero, Liviu Georgescu, Darko Bageski, Atanas Ourkouzounov, George Vassilev, Svetoslav Costov, Stela Miteva-Dinkova, Boyan Doychev and others.

In 2025 and 2026, Teo released his first studio albums of works by Rossen Balkanski, featuring Yana Lolova on piano: Stories for Guitar and Stories for Guitar and Piano.

He performs both as a soloist and in chamber ensembles at venues including Bulgaria Chamber Hall, the Central Military Club, the National Academy of Music Concert Hall and the Krasno Selo Municipal Cultural Institute in Sofia, as well as in Plovdiv, Burgas, Stara Zagora, Kyustendil, Pleven, Pazardzhik, Vratsa and other cities. He was invited as a soloist with the Academy Symphony Orchestra in three consecutive years, 2022, 2023 and 2024; with the Pazardzhik Symphony Orchestra in 2025; and with Sinfonietta Vratsa in 2026. In 2025, he made the premiere recording of the Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra by American composer Jeremy Beck with the Four for Music Symphony Orchestra.

Teo has also been active as a teacher since 2021 and, since 2023, has taught at the Lyubomir Pipkov National School of Music.