About

Pianist Ralitza Patcheva has been called a "phenomenon" (The Washington Post) and praised for her "elegant pianistic technique", "courageous, innovative interpretation" (Dolomiten, Italy) and "crystal tone; amalgamation of witty virtuosity, powerful expression and profound sensitivity" (Thuringer Landeszeitung, Germany). Ralitza is a prizewinner at the 51st International Competition Busoni in Italy, the Washington International Piano Competition and the National Symphony Orchestra Young Soloists competitions, as well as the International Chamber Music Competition "Accademia di Citta di Pinerolo" together with cellist Vasily Popov.

Ralitza Patcheva has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington DC, the Jena Philharmonic (Germany), the Haydn Orchestra (Italy), the Arlington Symphony, the Alexandria Symphony and the Williamsburg Symphonia. Ralitza enjoyed the mentorship of the late Maestro Ruben Vartanyan through a number of concert collaborations. She has also performed with conductors Randal Craig Fleisher, Daniel Gazon, Andrey Boreyko and Rufus Jones. She has presented recitals at the Kennedy Center, the Phillips Collection, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall, Gasteig, Villa Musica Mainz and Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh (as participant in the 1993 Aldeburgh Festival)

In 2005 Ralitza Patcheva recorded an album with works dedicated to famous pianists of the turn of the 20th century. A copy of this album, titled "Dedicated to A Friend" is kept at the International Piano Archives of the University of Maryland for which Ralitza is very grateful to Donald Manildi, curator of IPA. In 2007 she performed the piano version of the Enigma Variations by Sir Edward Elgar at the Phillips Collection in Washington DC. In 2009 she performed the Goldberg Variations of J. S. Bach in Washington DC. In 2013 Ralitza commenced a recital project called "A Room With a Symphony" by performing the solo piano arrangements by Otto Singer II of the First Symphony of Johannes Brahms.

Ralitza is known for daring programming, like performing a harpsichord/piano recital at the Phillips Collection or premiering newly composed works. In 2001 Ralitza performed the world premiere of "Glasshouse", a piece for piano and electronic soundscape dedicated to her by the German composer Marco Hertenstein. In recent years she has enjoyed collaborations with composers Frances McKay, Stanislava Stoytcheva, Jessica Krash, Jonathan Bingham and Sam Post.

At present Ralitza is an associate chair of the chamber music program and piano faculty at Levine Music and adjunct professor of piano and chamber music at Rome School of Music, Drama and Art at the Catholic University of America. She keeps an active performing schedule and frequently collaborates with musical colleagues Ivo Kaltchev, Olivia Hajioff, Marc Ramirez, Vasily Popov, Sam Post, Carlos Rodriguez, Leonid Sushansky, Jeremy Filsell and Kacy Clopton. She is a founding member of the Bulgarian Music Society in Washington DC.

Ralitza Patcheva holds advanced degrees in piano performance and vocal accompaniment from the University of Maryland-College Park, the Hochschule fur Musik in Munich and Peabody Conservatory. Her early training took place at the Levine School of Music in Washington DC and the Central Music School " Lyubomir Pipkov" in Sofia, Bulgaria. She considers herself very fortunate to have studied piano with Santiago Rodriguez, Andre Watts, Eliso Virsaladze, Helmut Deutsch, Julian Martin, Irena Orlov and Nina Aladshem; harpsichord with Webb Wiggins and Lois Narvey; organ with Harvey van Buren; and piano pedagogy with Dr. Cleveland Page.

Dr. Patcheva has been a lecturer at the University of Maryland-College Park and adjunct faculty at the Hochschule fur Musik in Munich, Germany and the Georgetown University in Washington. From 2001 to 2003 she was a Young Artist at the "Villa Musica" foundation in Mainz, Germany.

Since 2002 she co-directs the Chamber Music at Noon monthly concert series at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington DC with cellist and series founder Vasily Popov. The series offer free noontime concerts on the first Thursday of every month.