Marietta Petkova describes her Life in Music

An event of supreme concentration and meditation

Marietta Petkova is a celebrated pianist whose exceptional quality was quickly recognized in the Netherlands and far beyond. She is a pianist who knows how to reach the soul of music. She leaves the score behind and delves into the psychology of the composer. She seeks the connection between the person who composed the music and exposes an underlying sound world.

Originally Bulgarian, she has lived in the Netherlands for over 25 years and adds something unique to the Dutch musical landscape. Something inimitable, too. With each meeting, you also heard a piece of her extraordinary life story.

That requires a finely tuned sensitivity and emotional maturity, which few pianists possess. In 2000, she conquered the Amsterdam audience with a memorable Rachmaninov recital at the Concertgebouw. “Grandiose Petkova” and “Pianist Petkova: ideal Rachmaninov” read the headlines in the newspapers De Telegraaf and NRC Handelsblad. The international press applauded her live recordings from Lausanne of Rachmaninov's 24 preludes.

Marietta Petkova was born in 1968 in Ruse, a city on the Danube River in Bulgaria. She studied in Sofia (with Lili Atanassova), Vienna (with Paul Badura-Skoda), Ban (as Resident Artist) and Amsterdam (with Jan Wijn), where she graduated in 1994 with the highest possible distinction. She also studied for ten years with the well-known pianist György Sebök, who played a crucial role in her musical development. Marietta Petkova is currently enjoying a flourishing career as a soloist and chamber musician. Marietta is a Steinway artist and has her own CD series on the Bloomline label.