“When I play, you become the co-author. You listen to the music, but you are actually hearing your own voice, feelings, and experiences. You are the protagonist, and I am the mediator between the dream world and reality.”
''From the first note we are captivated by Elitsa Desseva's playing and will remain so until the end of the concert."
WEBTHEATER
"Elitsa Desseva finds in these scores the means to showcase beautiful sensitivity, delivering performance where voices of such rich texture are seldom heard."
PREMIÈRE LOGE
Praised by critics for the "ecstatic creative power" of her performance (ONLINE MERKER), Bulgarian pianist Elitsa Desseva specialises in the collaboration with singers and is recognised as a leading song pianist of her generation.
Awards and Recognition
Elitsa attracted international attention after winning some of the world's most renowned Lied competitions in just two years. In a duo with her regular partner baritone Mikhail Timoshenko, she reached the final of the Wigmore Hall/Independent Opera Song Competition (United Kingdom), where Mikhail was awarded 1st prize. Furthermore duo Timoshenko-Desseva received 1st prize at the International Art Song Competition Stuttgart (Germany), 1st prize at the Franz Schubert and Modern Music International Competition in Graz (Austria), 2nd prize and Audience Award at the International Schubert Competition Dortmund (Germany), 3rd prize and Audience Award at the Concours International de Musique de Chambre de Lyon (France) and the 18. Nordfriesischer Liedpreis des Ministeriums für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur des Landes Schleswig-Holstein.
In the early stages of her international career, alongside mezzo-soprano Polina Artsis Elitsa won 1st prizes at both the International Student Lied Duo Competition in Groningen (Netherlands) and the Internationaler Karl-Adler-Jugendmusikwettbewerb in Stuttgart (Germany). As a soloist Elitsa received several awards including the Bela Bartok Prize at the Ile-de-France International Piano Competition in Paris (France), the 1st Prize at the Liszt-Bartok Piano Competition in Sofia (Bulgaria), DAAD Prize and Deutschland-Stipendium. Receiving the Foundation Yordan Kamdzhalov prize culminated in her performance of Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2 at the International Festival 'Balabanov's House Music Days' in Plovdiv.
Projects and Recordings
In 2024, Elitsa Desseva, together with baritone Mikhail Timoshenko, released a critically acclaimed CD with Hänssler Classic (Eduard Erdmann: Lieder), featuring world premieres of songs by Eduard and Irene Erdmann as well as songs by Philipp Jarnach. Their dedication to exploring unknown and captivating composers is further highlighted by their recording of Jacques Ibert's "Quatre chansons de Don Quichotte" for B-Records (Aimer a loisir). Elitsa has also premiered works by Isabel Mundry, Bec Plexus (Brechtje) and Sehyung Kim.
Passionate about programming and concert design, Elitsa strives to break the barrier between audience and performers, forging new, emotionally charged, and authentic connections that attract younger and wider audiences to song recitals. Together with Mikhail Timoshenko, she curated a series of concerts for the Académie Orsay-Royaumont in dialogue with the collection of the Musée d'Orsay Paris in 2021. For Jorg Widmann’s milestone birthday, commissioned by the Heidelberger Frühling Liedfestival, they created the recital “Alaverdi” in 2023, transforming the stage into a Georgian birthday celebration where performers and audience members exchanged toasts in poetry and songs.
Curious to explore the depth of the Lied genre through the lens of a composer, Elitsa presented her composition “Gift", a song based on a poem by Barbara Kennedy, together with baritone David Kennedy at the LiedBasel Festival in 2024. This piece, an experiment in contemporary song, "captivated audiences with its unusual piano sounds" (DAS OPERNMAGAZIN).
Performances
Elitsa has collaborated with numerous distinguished musicians, performing alongside celebrated singers such as Angelika Kirchschlager, Thomas Hampson, and her regular partner, baritone Mikhail Timoshenko. Elitsa regularly appears at major music centers and festivals worldwide, including Wigmore Hall in London, Musée d’Orsay in Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, Musikverein in Vienna, Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, Brucknerhaus in Linz, France Musique in Paris, Festival Heidelberger Frühling, Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker, Grachten Festival in Amsterdam, Festival Young Artists in Bayreuth, Festival Boswiller Frühling, and the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival in Japan. Her performances have been broadcast on prestigious platforms like BBC Radio 3, Radio France, NDR, Südtirol Radio, SWR, Bulgarian National Radio, Dutch Radio 4, and NHK World Japan.
Mentorship
Invited by Thomas Hampson in 2022, Elitsa now serves as the study director and academy pianist at the prestigious Heidelberg Liedakademie, becoming the first female song accompanist to hold this position. In this role, she accompanies masterclasses led by Thomas Hampson and other distinguished musicians. Additionally, she provides coaching in concert programming and design, guiding the scholars of the Liedakademie to discover their unique artistic voices. As a result, they create Lied recitals showcased at the Schubert-Week in Pierre Boulez Saal Berlin and the Heidelberger Frühling Liedfestival.
Elitsa has further enhanced her skills through a practicum at the Opera Studio of the Vienna Staatsoper and developed a strong professional bond with voice teacher KS Angelika Kirchschlager, actively participating in her singing lessons at the mdw – Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien.
Committed to making Lied concerts more engaging, Elitsa will conduct workshops on programming Lied in a concert (Lied.GESTALTUNG) at the Franz Schubert und Musik der Moderne Competition in Graz in 2025.
Artistic Development
Born in Bulgaria, Elitsa Desseva began her musical journey at the age of four, singing in choirs and touring the country as a soloist. Her passion for music led her to the piano at the age of six in her hometown of Sofia, where she made her debut at ten with the Sofia Sinfonietta Orchestra. This early immersion in vocal music naturally evolved into a profound dedication to the piano, ultimately leading her to become a song accompanist.
Elitsa continued her studies in piano, chamber music, and Lied with Balázs Szokolay and Thomas Steinhöfel at the Hochschule für Musik in Weimar. She then pursued her Master’s Degree in song interpretation at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna under Charles Spencer and Markus Hadulla.
Throughout her education, Elitsa received notable mentorship from distinguished musicians such as singers Thomas Hampson, Mitsuko Shirai, Véronique Gens, Angelika Kirchschlager, Brigitte Fassbaender, Ian Bostridge, and pianists Hartmut Höll, Piotr Anderszewski, Dalton Baldwin, Graham Johnson, Susan Manoff, Julius Drake, Malcolm Martineau, and Helmut Deutsch.
She is a former scholar of the Heidelberg Lied Academy, Academy LiedBASEL, and Académie Orsay-Royaumont. Additionally, Elitsa is a Britten Pears Young Artist and a Yehudi Menuhin LIFE Music Now artist. She has received the Anny Felbermayer Preis and is a member of the International Hugo Wolf Academy.
Elitsa is currently based in Vienna.
