About Bella
Bulgarian-American violinist Bella Hristova has won international acclaim for her “expressive nuance and rich tone” (The New York Times) and “impressive power and control” (The Washington Post). A recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, she has distinguished herself as a performing artist with a remarkably diverse repertoire, bold approach to programming, and a warmly beguiling stage presence.
Highlights of her 2026-27 season include concerto performances with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under Valentina Peleggi (Dvořák), the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra under Kwamé Ryan (Beethoven), the Maryland Symphony Orchestra (Barber), the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra under Aram Demirjian (Korngold), the Quad City Symphony Orchestra and The Phoenix Symphony (Britten), and the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra (Wynton Marsalis), as well as an appearance in China with the Wuxi Symphony Orchestra under JoAnn Falletta. With the Santa Rosa Symphony, she play-conducts Vivaldi’s and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons. A frequent collaborator with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, she returns this season for several programs. She also serves as a jury member for the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, of which she is a Laureate.
Hristova’s ongoing commissioning project Lineage explores the evolution and breadth of unaccompanied violin writing, inspired by the solo violin works of Johann Sebastian Bach and Eugène Ysaÿe. The project grew from her studies of Ysaÿe’s Six Sonatas for Solo Violin with her mentor, Jaime Laredo. Laredo's own teacher, Josef Gingold, studied with Ysaÿe – a direct line she felt acutely while learning the works. The project comprises six new solo violin works by Dai Wei, Gloria Kravchenko, Nokuthula Ngwenyama, Eunike Tanzil, Joan Tower, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, each reflecting the composer’s individual voice and personal connection to the instrument. The world premiere recordings of all six works will be released on Azica Records in 2027.
A devoted champion of music by living composers, Hristova was the featured soloist in a concerto written for her by her husband, composer David Serkin Ludwig, and commissioned by a consortium of eight orchestras across the United States. She also premiered the violin concerto of New Zealand composer Anthony Ritchie. Recent and upcoming highlights include the world premieres of Dai Wei’s Weighless and Eunike Tanzil’s Rule of Three.
Hristova has performed extensively as a soloist with orchestras around the United States, including the Buffalo Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and the Hawaii, Kansas City, and Milwaukee Symphonies, as well as orchestras in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and New Zealand. In addition to her many appearances with orchestras, she has held residencies at top conservatories and summer music festival programs. She has performed recitals at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
As a recording artist, Hristova has released a variety of albums reflecting her broad musical interests. Bella Unaccompanied, released on Tonegold Records, features works by John Corigliano, Kevin Puts, Astor Piazzolla, Nathan Milstein, and J.S. Bach. Her Naxos debut album presents the solo violin works of Belgian composer Charles de Bériot. Following multiple tours with pianist Michael Houstoun, the duo has released the complete Beethoven Sonatas, the complete Brahms Sonatas, and an album of French sonatas by Ravel, Poulenc, and Fauré. Most recently, she recorded Ludwig’s violin concerto with JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, about which Gramophone Magazine raved, "Hristova plays with great relish and complete commitment."
Hristova began violin studies at the age of six in her native Bulgaria. After gaining accolades following master classes in Salzburg with Ruggiero Ricci, she studied with Ida Kavafian at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and received her Artist Diploma with Jaime Laredo at Indiana University. She launched her career as a winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, spending her early professional years as a member of the YCA roster. In addition to receiving the 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant, she has won numerous awards, including First Prize in the Michael Hill International Violin Competition and Laureate of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.
Hristova plays a 1655 Nicolò Amati violin, once owned by the violinist Louis Krasner. She is a dedicated runner and ran her first New York City Marathon in 2025. She lives in New York with her husband, David, and their four beloved (but poorly behaved) cats.
