Dobrinka Tabakova (b1980) studied music at Alleyn’s School in Dulwich, the Royal Academy of Music Junior Department and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Born in Bulgaria, her music has been broadcast and performed in her native country as well as in other European countries. Her orchestral work Thrace was performed at the Barbican in London, and Insight and On a bench in the shade were both premiered at the Cheltenham International Music Festival. The 2003 Moscow festival ‘Homecoming’ featured a performance of Dancing on Cobbled Streets. Commissions include the chamber operas The Custard Tart Opera and Midsummer Magic, and a viola concerto The Song of the Enchanting Viola. Tabakova won the Lutoslawski Composition Prize in 1999, the Jean-Frédéric Perrenoud Prize, and a medal at the fourth Vienna International Music Competition.

from notes by William McVicker © 2005