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, a bold approach to programming, and a warmly beguiling stage presence.
Highlights of her 2026-27 season include concerto performances with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Charlotte, Maryland, Knoxville, Quad City, Phoenix and Hilton Head symphonies, as well as an appearance in China with the Wuxi Symphony. 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.
Hristova’s ongoing commissioning project, Lineage, explores the evolution of unaccompanied violin writing, inspired by the solo works of Bach and Eugène Ysaÿe, a tradition to which she connects personally through her mentor, Jaime Laredo, whose teacher, Josef Gingold, studied with Ysaÿe. The project comprises six new solo violin works by Dai Wei, Gloria Kravchenko, Nokuthula Ngwenyama, Eunike Tanzil, Joan Tower and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, with world premiere recordings to be released on Azica Records in 2027. A devoted champion of music by living composers, she has premiered new concertos by Anthony Ritchie and her husband, David Serkin Ludwig.
Hristova has performed extensively as a soloist with orchestras across the United States, Asia, Europe, Latin America and New Zealand, and has held residencies at top conservatories and summer festivals. She has performed recitals at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, and Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Her recordings include Bella Unaccompanied, featuring works by Corigliano, Puts, Piazzolla, Milstein and Bach; her Naxos debut, presenting the solo works of Charles de Bériot; the complete Beethoven and Brahms sonatas with pianist Michael Houstoun; and Ludwig’s violin concerto with JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic, about which Gramophone raved that “Hristova plays with great relish and complete commitment.”
Hristova began violin studies at age six in her native Bulgaria. Following masterclasses in Salzburg with Ruggiero Ricci, she studied with Ida Kavafian at the Curtis Institute of Music and earned her Artist Diploma with Jaime Laredo at Indiana University. A winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, she has earned numerous honors, including First Prize in the Michael Hill International Violin Competition and Laureate of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. She plays a 1655 Nicolò Amati violin once owned by violinist Louis Krasner. Learn more at www.bellahristova.com.
