Tatiana Koleva

Born in Bulgaria, Tatiana Koleva lives and works at present in the Netherlands. Internationally renown as virtuoso solo and ensemble performer, she is actively involved in the promotion of contemporary music and art forms all over the world. She has established herself as a leading percussionist specializing in marimba. Her performances leave the audience spellbound with intriguing rhythms and surprising musical developments. In addition to her intensive concert activities Mrs. Koleva leads regularly master classes for marimba/percussion and chamber music as well as composer workshops. She has played concerts and given clinics throughout Europe, the USA, Japan, Jordan, Mexico and Canada. Tatiana Koleva has commissioned a number of compositions specially written for her and her projects and ensembles. Most of the pieces use her new performing technique of "marimba extended" developed during the intense collaboration with the composers, using other percussion instruments, sound tracks and her voice. Based on that conception Tatiana released her first solo CD "Knock on Wood" released in 2004 on the NovaLinia records, and followed up by the premiere of her new solo multimedia program "Rituals & Confessions" in March 2006.

Ms. Koleva has appeared as a soloist of various orchestras and regularly performs with leading ensembles and theater groups. She is one of the founders and member of the female group ELECTRA and has a duo with the organist Jan Hage. Next to her activities as a classical musician she is often involved in cross-genre projects with improvised jazz, rock and film music. The last years mark the development of the successful duo with the jazz saxophonist Rutger van Otterloo and recently she has joined the new experimental rock band Rubatong. She has recorded for the following labels: Decca, New World Records, UNSOUNDS, NovaLinia Records , ADNARIM Studio and BVHAAST.

Tatiana studied piano and percussion in her home city Varna and continued her education at the Music Academy Sofia, and the Conservatories of Rotterdam and The Hague. Among her teachers are Dobri Paliev, Robert van Sice, Steven Schick, Siegfried Fink, Wim Vos and James Wood. Mrs. Koleva is a winner of the Grand Prize in the "Svetoslav Obretenov" National Bulgarian Competition (1988), the International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition (1993) Rotterdam, and has been awarded with the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis, Darmstadt '94. In 1995 she was finalist in the First World L. H. Stevens International Marimba Competition, Astbury Park, NJ, USA. Just recently Tatiana Koleva received the prestigious Prize 'Musician of the Year in 2009' by the National Radio and the audience of Bulgaria.

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