Sofia Art Institute invites its audience to a musical evening dedicated to the works of women composers from the late Romantic era.

The shared curiosity of Mila Mihova (piano) and Magdalina Vutova (violin) toward rarely performed chamber repertoire is the driving force behind the project “The Muses As Creators.”

The many connections in the biographies and artistic aesthetics of Ethel Smyth (England), Clara Schumann (Germany), and Amanda Röntgen-Maier (Sweden) are the reason their music is brought together in a single concert program. The unconventional Ethel and the lyrical Amanda drew inspiration from the determined and uncompromising Clara, creating a bond between them without diminishing their individuality.

Join us for a concert where, through both music and storytelling, you will be invited into the creative worlds of each of these remarkable “muses.”

THE PERFORMERS

Magdalina Vutova, viloin
Mila Mihova, piano

THe PRogramme

Ethel Smyth (1858–1944)
Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor, Op. 7
I. Allegro moderato
II. Scherzo. Allegro grazioso
III. Romanze. Andante grazioso
IV. Finale. Allegro vivace

Clara Schumann (1819–1896)
Three Romances for Violin and Piano
I. Andante molto
II. Allegretto
III. Leidenschaftlich schnell

Amanda Röntgen-Maier (1853–1894)
Sonata for Violin and Piano in B minor, Op. 6
I. Allegro
II. Andantino
III. Allegro molto vivace

Magdalina Vutova completed her secondary education at the National School of Music “Lyubomir Pipkov” in the violin class of Yulia Angelova. She is a laureate of numerous national and international competitions for solo and chamber music and has actively participated in masterclasses led by Kevork Mardirossian, James Ehnes, Mincho Minchev, Svetlin Roussev, Dina Schneidermann, Christoph Schickedanz, and others.

Magdalina continued her studies in London at the Royal Academy of Music, where in 2016 she was awarded a scholarship to study in the class of Prof. Gyorgy Pauk. She won the Academy’s Wolfe Wolfinsohn Prize and A.S.S.E.T. Prize and was a finalist in the Johannes Brahms Sonata Competition.

She has had the privilege of performing at venues such as Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, and Aldeburgh Hall under the baton of Semyon Bychkov, Edward Gardner, Oliver Knussen, Marin Alsop, Sir Mark Elder, and others. In 2022, she graduated with distinction from her Master’s degree and received The Clarence Myerscough Award for Outstanding Final Recital.

Mila Mihova graduated from the National School of Music “Lyubomir Pipkov” in the piano class of Emilia Kaneva and from the National Academy of Music “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” in the class of Prof. Dr. Borislava Taneva. During the 2017/2018 academic year, she studied through the Erasmus+ program at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar, Germany, in the class of Prof. Balázs Szokolay. In 2021, she graduated with highest honors from the Master’s program in the class of Prof. Dr. Borislava Taneva.

She also completed a three-year Master’s degree in piano duo performance together with pianist Alexandra Dicheva at the University of the Arts in Graz, Austria, studying with the Silver-Garburg Piano Duo. Mila is a laureate of numerous national and international competitions both as a soloist and chamber musician. She has performed as a soloist with leading Bulgarian orchestras and participated in prestigious festivals such as Sofia Music Weeks and Music Days at the Balabanov House, among others.

Her concert career has taken her to Italy, Greece, Austria, Germany, Russia, Brazil, and Norway. She is currently a lecturer at the National Academy of Music “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov.”