ABOUT VENETA
Known for her exceptionally creative and exciting projects, pianist Veneta Neynska is one of the most emotionally engaging and intellectually captivating pianists of her generation. Her fine and thoughtful interpretations of short pieces in the Brevitas solo album, elegant series of black-and-white musical videos and profound renderings of Franz Schubert’s complete piano sonatas are among the many fascinating pianistic endeavors Veneta has offered her appreciative audience.
A passionate advocate for the musical heritage of fellow Bulgarian composer, pianist and architect Dimitar Nenov, Veneta Neynska has thoroughly researched his life and works and, together with director Jassen Haralampiev, has created a critically acclaimed musical documentary about the legendary artist. The film features the only surviving recording by Nenov, widely considered as the most significant Bulgarian pianist of all times. Dimitar Nenov and the Dimensions of Elegance has been presented as part of a cine-concert in various European capitals and is freely accessible with subtitles in five languages at Veneta’s YouTube channel. She has made a rare recording of Nenov’s piano music and the album Dimitar Nenov is available at the major streaming platforms. It includes the composer’s masterpiece Theme and variations and his devilishly difficult Toccata, recorded for the first time by a female pianist.
Watch Veneta’s video performance of Dimitar Nenov – Toccata
Reaching out for inspiration to both traditional and contemporary visual arts, literature, architecture and poetry, Veneta Neynska’s music-making has been described by her audience as “sensational”, “graceful and full of nuances’, “outstanding”, “deep and profound”, “beyond magical” and more. Part of her interpretations can be found on her YouTube channel, gorgeously shot by her longterm artistic companion Jassen Haralampiev. The videos contain music by Franck, Mendelssohn, Debussy, Liszt, Chopin, Vladiguerov, Schubert-Liszt and are presented as a one-shot, black-and-white films offering the viewers an extremely intimate experience as close to a live a performance as possible.
Veneta Neynska’s curious mind and adventurous nature have inspired her to explore rare concerto repertoire and perform exciting pieces such as Clara Schumann’s A minor Concerto, as well as pieces for piano and orchestra by two of J.S. Bach’s sons – Carl Philipp Emanuel and Johann Christian. The Polish performance of Alexander Tansman’s Second Piano Concerto has sparked an interest in a wide variety of Polish music. Although Veneta is a fine interpreter of Chopin’s music (hear Chopin’s Nocturne op. 9, No. 1 here), pieces by Karol Szymanowski, Juliusz Zarębski, Ignaz Friedman and Henryk Górecki are at the core of her “no-Chopin” Polish program presented at the prestigious Piano Extravaganza festival in her native town of Sofia.
A graduate of her native city’s music school with the highest achievement award of a National Diploma, Veneta has continued her education under John Perry at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles, CA and afterwards with Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, UK. Major influences on her development as a musician have been extensive work with Bulgarian pianists Gina Tabakova and Vesko Stambolov along with masterclasses with prominent musicians such as Imogen Cooper, Jerome Lowenthal, Alexei Nasedkin, Dominique Merlet, and others.
An interesting fact in Veneta’s biography is that her piano teacher family tree traces back her lineage all the way to Beethoven. This is the likely reason Beethoven’s music has a special place in Veneta’s heart for she has performed his music throughout her career. Ever since being a laureate of the Beethoven Intercollegiate Competition and a First Prize winner at the Beethoven Hradec Competition, Veneta has performed a large portion of his solo piano, chamber music as well as his Triple and Third Concertos with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra in the Czech Republic.
A highlight of Veneta Neynska’s future engagements is the performance of Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with the Shumen Philharmony and Konstantin Ilievsky in May, 2023. Another major forthcoming project is the German premiere of her newest recital programme called “Chances & Choices” in June, 2023 where the pianist explores musical and literary interpretations on the subjects of destiny and will. A return visit to the Apollonia festival in Sozopol, Bulgaria is scheduled for next August where Veneta will perform a programme focused around Dimitar Nenov’s music.