
Dobrinka Tabakova
Upcoming Performances
About Dobrinka Tabakova
“Tabakova may be using the musical materials of tradition, but through them she has broken new paths” (Mark Nowakowski, The Washington Times)
Dobrinka Tabakova is a composer of rich, expressive music, whose distinct soundworld has been called “riveting, piercingly beautiful and frequently radiant” (Huffpost Arts & Culture). Born in the historic town of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Tabakova moved with her family to the United Kingdom when she was 11 and has lived in London ever since. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music Junior Department and at the age of 14 won the Jean-Frédéric Perrenoud prize and medal at the Vienna International Music Competition. She graduated from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and holds a PhD in composition from King’s College London.
An affinity for string instruments is revealed in Tabakova’s substantial body of works for string orchestra. Written for some of her earliest supporters, the Concerto for Viola and Strings (2004) for Maxim Rysanov, and Concerto for Cello and Strings (2008), for Kristine Blaumane and Amsterdam Sinfonietta, solidified Tabakova’s reputation as an outstanding contemporary voice. Suite in Old Style (2006) written for the Homecoming Festival, Moscow Conservatoire and premiered with Rysanov and Blaumane, and Such Different Paths (2007-8) commissioned by Spectrum Concerts Berlin and dedicated to Janine Jansen, are among her most performed works.
As Composer in Residence with the BBC Concert Orchestra (2017-21), Tabakova turned her hand to large-scale orchestral works including the orchestral triptych Earth Suite (2018-20). She was Composer in Residence with MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra (2017-18) and The High Line (2015) for orchestra, inspired by New York’s park in the sky, was composed during her residency with Orchestra of the Swan (2014-16). Other major orchestral works include Orpheus’ Comet (2017), which opened the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Music Exchanges of Euroradio, and her double piano concerto Together Remember to Dance (2017) for Arthur and Lucas Jussen, commissioned by Amsterdam Sinfonietta.
Her music is also a regular feature in festivals internationally. The Patience of Trees (2021) for violin and string orchestra was commissioned by Manchester International Festival and premiered by Hugo Ticciati and Manchester Camerata. In 2019, Tabakova’s Timber & Steel (2019) was premiered at the BBC Proms to celebrate 150 years since the birth of Sir Henry Wood. She has been a featured composer at the Utrecht International Chamber Music Festival, the Kremerata Baltica Festival, the Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival, the Vale of Glamorgan Festival, Davos Festival, and 'Off the Beaten Path' Festival in the Bulgarian Rhodopi Mountains.
A large body of chamber and ensemble works complements Tabakova’s orchestral output. A pianist herself, many of Tabakova’s early chamber works focus on the piano. Modetudes (1998) travels through the seven modes while Halo (1999) for solo piano explores harmonic and tonal qualities of the instrument. Among her best-known works are Frozen River Flows (2005) for oboe and percussion, which was premiered in the National Portrait Gallery, and Suite in Jazz Style (2009) for viola and piano, commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and The Royal Philharmonic Society for Maxim Rysanov. Her sympathy for strings continues in this body of work, including with Insight (2002) for string trio written for the Cheltenham Music Festival and her four works for string quartet to date: On a bench in the shade (2004), Organum light (2014), Highland Pastorale (2019) and The smile of the flamboyant wings (2019).
Choral music has been an important part of Tabakova’s output from the start. Praise (2002) for choir and organ was premiered by St Paul’s Cathedral Choir and received the Barclay’s Prize celebrating H. M. The Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002. On the South Downs (2009) for solo cello, chamber orchestra and choir was written for Natalie Clein and the young musicians of West Sussex. The large-scale choral orchestral work Immortal Shakespeare (2016), a cantata for Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary, was commissioned as part of her residency with Orchestra of the Swan, and her long-term residency with Truro Cathedral resulted in a number of new works including the Truro Canticles (2017). In 2019, City of London Sinfonia toured Centuries of Meditations (2012), for choir, harp and strings, around the major cathedrals of the UK.
Tabakova’s music has been used in films including Jean-Luc Godard’s Adieu au langage and Le livre d’image. She has also collaborated on contemporary dance productions including with Sydney Dance Company and American Ballet Theatre Studio Company.
Prizes for her work include the Lutoslawski Composition Prize and the Sorel Medallion in Choral Composition, and her Fantasy Homage to Schubert, nominated by the Bulgarian National Radio, was selected at the 2014 International Rostrum of Composers.
Tabakova’s music has been recorded for ECM, Bis, Hyperion and Delphian, among other labels. Her debut portrait disc String Paths was released on ECM New Series in 2013, reaching No. 2 in the UK Classical Charts and receiving a Grammy nomination in 2014. A second portrait disc, this time focusing on her choral works, was recorded at Truro Cathedral with the Cathedral Choir and BBC Concert Orchestra for Regent Records. The album received the 2019 Critic’s Choice of Gramophone Magazine.
In 2021, Dobrinka Tabakova completed her orchestral Earth Suite for the BBC Concert Orchestra and the violin concerto The Patience of Trees for the Manchester International Festival. In 2022, she was named The Halle Orchestra's artist in association.
Works from the 2022/23 season included a string quartet, The Ear of Grain, for the ARD String Quartet competition in Munich, a large-scale choral commission for the St. Louis Chamber Chorus, and a work for the Hallé Youth Orchestra, Swarm Fanfares. The piece was recognised at the 2023 Ivor’s Classical Awards for the Best Community and Participation Composition in association with ABRSM. This award celebrates works composed for voluntary, amateur or youth performers and/or community engagement.
Adding to Tabakova's impressive choral catalogue; Arise Lord into thy rest (2022) and Turn our captivity (2022) had a run of premiere performaces in 2023 with The Sixteen and conductor Harry Christophers. The concerts formed part of the choirs' event The Choral Pilgrimage 2023, celebrating the legacy and choral music of Renaissance composer William Byrd.
Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Tabakova's latest work Rewilding (IV from Earth Suite) for orchestra will recieve its world premiere with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Anna-Maria Helsing this October 2024.
Worklist
Gallery



Products
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for SATB choirComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: ScoreInstrumentation: SATB choirProduct number: ED 14123Print editionPrint edition
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for string dectetComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: string dectetHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for string quartet and string orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: string quartet and string orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for SATB choir, harp and string orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaText writer: Thomas TraherneMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: SATB choir, harp and string orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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additional animals to Saint-Saëns' Carnival, with dragon dance, monkey and goatHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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Composer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: cello and string orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for solo piano and chamber orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: piano and chamber orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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Composer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: solo viola and stringsHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for solo violin, solo cello and string orchestra with optional percussionComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: for solo violin, solo cello and string orchestra with optional percussionHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for solo viola (or violin), two bassoons and string orchestraComposer: Franz Schubert | Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: solo viola (or violin), 2 bassoons and string orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for string nonet or string orchestraComposer: Franz Schubert | Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: string nonet or string orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for string orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: string orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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arranged for violin, accordion and double bassComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: ScoreInstrumentation: violin, accordion and double bassProduct number: ED 14178Print editionPrint edition
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for SATB choirComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaText writer: AnonymousMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: ScoreInstrumentation: SATB choirLanguage: EnglishProduct number: ED 14189Print editionPrint edition
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for solo violin and string orchestraComposer: Franz Schubert | Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: solo violin and string orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for SATB choir and chamber orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaText writer: William ShakespeareMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: SATB choir and chamber orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for ensembleComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: ensembleHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for string trioComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: ScoreInstrumentation: string trioProduct number: ED 14179Print editionPrint edition
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for SATB choir and orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: SATB choir and orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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children's opera in one actComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: soli, vocal ensemble and ensembleHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for solo pianoComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: ScoreInstrumentation: solo pianoProduct number: ED 14180Print editionPrint edition
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for solo pianoComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: ScoreInstrumentation: solo pianoProduct number: ED 14181Print editionPrint edition
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for SATB choirComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: ScoreInstrumentation: SATB choirProduct number: ED 14174Print editionPrint edition
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for SATB (divisi) choir with solo sopranoComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: ScoreInstrumentation: SATB divisi+ solo sopranoProduct number: ED 14182Print editionPrint edition
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for wind quintet and string quartetComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: wind quintet and string quartetHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for solo cello and orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: solo cello and orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for string quintetComposer: Dobrinka Tabakova | Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Score and partsInstrumentation: string quintetProduct number: ED 14205Print editionPrint edition
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for string orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: strings orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for ensembleComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: ensembleHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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Suite for solo violaComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: ScoreInstrumentation: violaProduct number: ED 14183Print editionPrint edition
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for SATB choir and organComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: ScoreInstrumentation: SATB choir and organProduct number: ED 14184Print editionPrint edition
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for piano 4 hands, 2 percussionist, 2 gamelan and filmComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: piano 4 hands, 2 percussionists, 2 gamelan and filmHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for violin and pianoComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Score and partInstrumentation: violin and pianoProduct number: ED 14120Print editionPrint edition
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for solo viola (or solo violin or solo cello) and string orchestraComposer: Franz Schubert | Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: solo viola (or solo violin or solo cello) and string orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for solo soprano and chamber orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: solo soprano and chamber orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for violin and hurdy gurdyComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: ScoreInstrumentation: violin and hurdy gurdyProduct number: ED 14185Print editionPrint edition
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(Zvezdna Nosht / Звездна нощ)Composer: Dobrinka TabakovaText writer: Ivan VazovMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: solo soprano, solo violin and string orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for string septetComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: ScoreInstrumentation: string septetHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for solo violin and string orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: solo violin and string orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for viola and pianoComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Sheet musicInstrumentation: viola and pianoProduct number: ED 14186Print editionPrint edition
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"The Court Jester Amareu"Composer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: solo viola, harpsichord and string orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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(Dawn-Day-Dusk)Composer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: for solo violin, solo cello and string orchestra with optional percussionHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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for solo trumpet or flugelhorn, solo violin and chamber orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: solo trumpet or flugelhorn, solo violin and chamber orchestraHire/performance materialHire/performance material
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Concerto for solo violin, percussion and string orchestraComposer: Dobrinka TabakovaMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: solo violin, percussion and stringsHire/performance materialHire/performance material