Bulgarian – Swiss pianist Stella Timenova was born 1982 in Plovdiv in a family of musicians. She began studying the piano at the age of five with her first teacher, Stella Oslekova, while attending the “Dobrin Petkov” National School of Music in her hometown. Three years later she gave her first recital and won the first Prize in a renowned Bulgarian competition in the category for children. Successfully completing the early education brought her the Special Prize of the school for extraordinary musical achievements. In 2000 Stella Timenova was admitted to the Sofia Conservatory in the class of Prof. Stella Dimitrova-Maistorova, who accompanied her throughout the Master Degree as well. During that time, Stella Timenova performed as a solo pianist with major orchestras and leading festivals in Bulgaria. In 2005 a scholarship given by the Swiss Government brought her to the Academy of Fine Arts in Berne into the class of Rada Petkova, which she completed with a Concert Diploma and highest honors. Her training was elaborated by many master classes, amongst others with Alexei Nasedkin, Sergey Markarov, Piotr Anderszewski, Christoph Berner, György Nádor, Sergio Azzolini and Carsten Eckert. Numerous awards at national and international competitions in her professional journey include Phos – Opera Discovery Milano; Odd Fellows, Berne; Nikola Stefanov, Sofia; Pancho Vladigerov, Shumen; Sergey Rachmaninoff, Pleven; Seiler, Sofia; Albert Roussel, Sofia, etc. She has also been supported by various foundations: Richard Wagner Foundation, The Guth-Dreyfuss Foundation, the St. Albanstift Foundation, the Heidy und Heinrich Bebié-von Gunten-Foundation and others. Stella Timenova is a co-founder and a member of the jury in the annual Competition for Young Pianists “Stella Oslekova,” held in her hometown Plovdiv and dedicated to the memory of her beloved first piano teacher. She is collaborative pianist at Rudolf Steiner Schule Münchenstein.
Stella Timenova has performed concerts in Bulgaria, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy, France, Hungary, Turkey, North Macedonia and Slovakia. Her repertoire covers a large range of periods in the classical music: from Baroque to the present. As a soloist, Stella made her debut in 2009 with the Basel Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Daniel Klajner. Many recordings and live broadcastings for the National Bulgarian Radio and Television, as well as Da Vinci Classics, Classic FM Radio, complete her musical profile.
Another chapter in her career unfolds with her chamber music experience. Performances with the Galatea Quartet, the Gémeaux Quartet, the violinist Corina Belcea, oboist Céline Moinet, flutists Stéphane Réty, Aldo Baerten, Wally Hase represent her greatest skills and musicianship.