Julia Tsenova (also spelled Julia Tzenova, Julia Cenova, or Julia Zenova, ) ( – ) was a Bulgarian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and musical

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

Life and career

Julia Tsenova graduated both Composition and Piano in the State Academy of Music in Sofia as a student of Prof.

Pancho Vladigerov Pancho Haralanov Vladigerov (or Wladigeroff, Wladigerow, Vladiguerov, Vladigueroff; ; 13 March 18998 September 1978) was a Bulgarian composer, pedagogue, and pianist. Vladigerov is arguably the most influential Bulgarian composer of all time. He ...

. Tsenova took part in the International Composers' class in Sofia and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, directed by Prof. Ton de Leeuw - the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

(1981, 1982). She attended many workshops in Europe. Her music was performed in different contemporary festivals, as well as at the International Composers' Rostrum in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(1995). Since 1997 she was Professor of Piano and Dean at the Pop and Jazz Music Faculty in the State Academy of Music. She was a member of the Union of the Bulgarian Composers as well as of the

International Society for Contemporary Music The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music. The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following the ...

, and a President of the Bulgarian section. Julia Tsenova died on 11 April 2010. Her daughter Kristina Sandulova is also a concert pianist.

Music

Julia Tsenova has had versatile musical interests. She wrote in the field of symphonic, chamber, choral and scenic music. Her works are dramatic and rich in dynamics and philosophy. As a composer she owns a bright individual style and perfect use of the modern composition techniques. Tsenova has always had a strong interest in the ancient eastern philosophies - this interest finds its own secret ways to penetrate in the creative ideas of the composer. Traces of this trend can be found in her latest works as well. Her compositions have been performed in different musical forums in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, Austria, Switzerland, England, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain,

, Norway,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, Hungary,

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, Greece, Russia, India, Australia, United States, Canada and other countries.

Personal life

In 2002

Bulgarian National Television The Bulgarian National Television ( Bulgarian: Българска национална телевизия, ''Balgarska natsionalna televizia'') or BNT (БНТ), stylized as ·Б·Н·Т· since 2018, is a public television broadcaster of Bulgaria ...

produced a documentary entitled ''Prayers onto the Wall'' devoted to Julia Tsenova and her works. She died of cancer on April 11, 2010, in Sofia, and is buried in Central Sofia Cemetery.

Selected works

Symphonic

*1974 Sinfonia con piano concertante *1979 Movement for orchestra *1984 Fest music - for orchestra *1994 Fresco - for chamber choir and orchestra *2000 Suggestion - for orchestra *2001 Shopp Dance

Chamber

*1973 Three Indian songs - solo contralto *1975 Seven songs - for soprano and string quintet *1976 ''Three Frescoes with Epilogue'' for viola and piano *1981 ''Step and Rag-Time'' for viola and piano *1985 Music for the mice - Fl, Cl, Fg *1986 Music in the entr'acte - Pn, Vla, Cb, tape effects *1987 Cantus Firmus a due - Cl, Pn, Marimba *1990 Diving in the poles - for seven voices (4+3) *1993 The water sends me to sleep - Pn, Cl, Vibraphone and sound effects *1995 The endless circle - Pn, String quintet, Fl, Cr *1996 Temptation - Chamber opera - musical *1996 Triptych for Keyboard - Pn *1996 ...Invoking the gods - Altoflute in G + Mexican sistrum, Piano + Mexican drum, Cbass + log drum *1997 Musica solitudinis - Pn *1997 A swan song - for female - voice folk choir *1997 An album of jazz pieces for piano *1998 Shop dance - a piece for piano four handed *1998 = 3.14 - for voice and chamber orchestra *1998 Isida's unveiling - alt saxofone + easy piano, trumpet and audio amplifier and loudspeaker system *1999 Four prayers - Pn *2000 Green silence - Fl, Vla, harp and piano *2001 The seventh door - Fl, Cl, Vno, Vc, Pn *2001 A Song Cycle - for Soprano and Piano /on Ingeborg Bachmann's poetry/ *2002 Quantum Satis - for female folk choir, 2 Pn, Gong and cassa *2002 Temple of the Dancers - 3 Fl /1 solo + 2/ *2003 Metamorphoses - for piano four handed *2003 String Quartet *2003 Curriculum Vitae - on I. Bachmann for soprano and piano *2004 The Left Dragon - for oboe solo

References

External links

Julia Tsenova at the Union of Bulgarian Composers

Julia Tsenova at Duck Duck Go
* . Dedicated to and performed by Kristina Sandulova, live at the Gesellschaft für Musiktheater, Vienna, Austria, 31 March 2004.
''"The endless circle"'' by Julia Tsenova

, Interview with Julia Tsenova, Kultura, 31 July 1998 .

Im Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek . {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsenova, Julia 1948 births 2010 deaths Bulgarian classical musicians Bulgarian jazz pianists Bulgarian women pianists Experimental musicians Bulgarian women classical composers Bulgarian classical composers Experimental composers Bulgarian pianists Bulgarian music educators Bulgarian women music educators Musicians from Sofia Deaths from cancer in Bulgaria Burials at Central Sofia Cemetery 20th-century pianists Women classical pianists 20th-century Bulgarian women composers 20th-century women pianists Bulgarian jazz composers Bulgarian women jazz musicians