Violinist Virtuosa Liya Petrova To Debut In Hong Kong

Hong Kong Sinfonietta will welcome violin virtuosa Liya Petrova to play Sibelius’ Violin Concerto on 1 June at Hong Kong City Hall, as part of their Great Violin Concertos series.

Ahead of the concert, Liya Petrova shared with us her atypical musical journey and her enthusiasm to make her debut in Hong Kong.

Born in 1990 in Sofia, Bulgaria, Petrova started to perform with various orchestras when she was only 6 years old. Despite being raised in a family of musicians, she started to study the violin with her uncle in secret and she had to fight to convince her parents to let her continue her musical journey.

Liya Petrova by Simon Fowler

“The beginning of my story with the violin is a very unusual one. Most of the children that play an instrument are very encouraged by their parents to do so. In my case, it was the opposite. The economical context in Bulgaria was not favourable, and my mum, as a pianist herself, wished for a better future for her children, so she strongly recommended me not to start playing the violin. My parents were so much against it that I had to ask my uncle to teach me how to play in secret. One year later, I had my first concert with an orchestra. It is the day that everyone accepted my choice and, from that moment on, my parents supported me 100% in my musical journey,” she recalls.

Petrova, who now plays the Rovelli, a magnificent instrument made in Cremona in 1742 by Guarneri Del Gesù, explains that the violin is one of the most difficult instruments: “You need a masterful technique – great precision, perfect coordination, high concentration – but also sensibility, imagination, ability to listen, courage, ambition, mental strength, empathy to feel the composers and, most importantly, the desire to share with the public”.

Praised for her effortless virtuosity, exceptional tonal variety and gorgeous sound, the violinist was revealed to the international scene in 2016 when she took First Prize at the Carl Nielsen competition in Denmark.

Liya Petrova by Simon Fowler

As a soloist, Petrova has been the guest of orchestras such as the Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de RadioFrance, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Antwerp Symphony, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen, Staatskapelle Weimar, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Brussels Philharmonic, Norddeutsche Philharmonie, Kansai Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre National de Bordeaux, Orchestre National des Pays de Loire, Sinfonia Varsovia, Odense Symphony Orchestra.

In January 2020, she released her first album, a Beethoven-Barber-Britten recital album with pianist Boris Kusnezow. A second disc featuring the Beethoven violin concerto and Mozart’s rarely performed K 271 concerto, known as n° 7, with Jean-Jacques Kantorow and the Sinfonia Varsovia was released in 2021.

When asked how she sees the role of classical music in education, Petrova explains that it has been largely proven that playing an instrument has many benefits for children and for the brain development. “I find equally important the impact classical music has on us as human beings. In a moment of turbulence and uncertainty in the world, music is essential because it is a universal language that unites us all and reminds us of the most important human values,” she says.

Liya Petrova and conductor Emil Tabakov, Orchestra of State Opera, Plovdiv, 2022

On 1 June, she will make her debut in Hong Kong and play Sibelius’ Violin Concerto with Hong Kong Sinfonietta and conductor Catherine Larsen-Maguire.

“The Sibelius violin concerto is a musical piece that feels very close to my nature. Preparing for it requires entering the universe of the concerto which is very intense, dramatic and powerful. Colours are often dark and I love working on finding lots of variety in it. It’s one of the few pieces in which I imagine a landscape in the beginning. I am standing on a field filled with snow and ice, it is snowing a bit and I feel the cold wind on my face, there is a storm ahead of me, I can see it, I have to cross it,” Petrova explains.

The violinist can’t wait to play for the first time in Hong Kong. “I am happy to discover the city, culture and, of course, the people! It seems to be a leading cultural centre that is innovative and has a lot to offer, so I can’t wait to discover it soon myself, ” Petrova says with enthusiasm.

Alexander Goehr by Tom Hurley

This concert will also mark the Asian premiere of monumental British composer Alexander Goehr’s The Master Said which takes inspiration from the teachings and texts of the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius. Award-winning Hong Kong musical and film music composer Leon Ko will be taking on the role of Narrator in the thought-provoking work.

Leon Ko by Leo Yuen

More details on the concert can be found here. Tickets can be booked here.