About

Flute and piccolo player Nevena Atanasova is passionate about orchestral and chamber music. She is currently on the prestigious City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra training scheme and enjoys the mentorship of Marie-Christine Zupancic, Veronika Klirova and Helen Benson. She has performed as principal flute of RBC Symphony Orchestra under Karen Ní Bhroin, RCM Opera Orchestra under Martyn Brabbins, Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra under James Blair and St Paul's Opera. While studying at the Royal College of Music, she also enjoyed being part of the Philharmonia sit-in scheme on several occasions. Currently a student at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Nevena had the privilege of playing next to Berlin Philharmonic’s Principal Oboist Jonathan Kelly as part of woodwind repertoire sessions.

Nevena has been part of various ensembles, including NeKriMa trio (flute, French horn and piano), ‘Mozart’ quartet, Bach reimagined free ensemble, Marais Baroque flute trio sonata, and the RCM Wind Ensemble. Her achievements include First prize in the ‘Classical ensembles’ category at the Internet Music Competition – Belgrade, Serbia; and performing the Mozart flute quartets at the Austrian Embassy. Nevena is currently a member of Ensemble Matters, with whom she performed Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire at the Bloomsbury Festival.

Her acquired musical and stage experience has resulted in success in several international and national competitions, including Second prize at the International Competition ‘Young Virtuosos’, Sofia, Bulgaria. As a young soloist, Nevena performed Carl Nielsen’s Flute Concerto with Konstantin Dobroykov and the Plovdiv Symphony Orchestra (currently the Orchestra of Opera Plovdiv). Other scholarships and awards include RCM Heddy Simpson and Zetland Foundation awards, ‘Dobrin Petkov’ prize for musical achievements and creativity, and Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumental Prize by the Sir John Barbirolli Memorial Trust.

Proud of her Bulgarian heritage, Nevena is currently working on recovering, collecting and recording flute music by Bulgarian composers. A growing collection of recordings will soon become available.

Nevena’s commitment to continuous learning is evident from her regular attendance of courses and masterclasses. She has had the privilege of learning from acclaimed flute and piccolo players such as Peter Verhoyen, Mario Carolli and Felix Renggli, to name a few.

She completed her Bachelor studies at the Royal College of Music in London under Sue Thomas, Kathleen Stevenson and Rachel Brown. Currently a Master student at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Nevena studies under Marie-Christine Zupancic, Helen Benson and Andrew Lane.

Nevena plays a silver flute by Wm. S. Haynes with a silver headjoint by Miguel Arista.