Bella Hristova to Premiere Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s “Carousel”

Bella will premiere the solo violin work on June 8, 2025, at Bard College’s Olin Hall

In her Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle’s (HVCMC) recital debut with pianist Anna Polonsky, the Bulgarian-American violinist Bella Hristova will be giving the world premiere of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Carousel on June 8, 2025, at Bard College’s Olin Hall. 

Carousel is a solo violin work commissioned by Bella for her ongoing commissioning project Lineage, which explores the evolution of unaccompanied violin writing, inspired by the solo works of Bach and Ysaÿe.

“Ysaÿe’s Six Sonatas for Solo Violin were deeply influenced by Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas,” Bella explained, “and when I studied them with my beloved mentor Jaime Laredo — who studied with Josef Gingold, a student of Ysaÿe — I felt a direct connection to this lineage of solo violin writing. 

“In the spirit of this tradition, I am commissioning six contemporary composers to write new solo works,” she added. “Each piece reflects not only the rich lineage of unaccompanied violin writing, but also the composer’s individual voice and their personal connection to the instrument — drawing inspiration from the musical ideas, traditions, and lineages that speak most deeply to them. So far, Lineage includes pieces by Joan Tower, Nokuthula Ngwenyama, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.”

“What a pleasure it was to write a solo violin work for the wonderful violinist, Bella Hristova, knowing that her performances would capture the essence of the piece,” said Zwilich, who started her career as a violinist. “When I was four years old a book titled Gigi: The Story of a Merry-Go-Round Horse was read to me. It made a lasting impression. When I found out that Bella’s father, Yuriy Chichkov, had composed songs for children — and knowing how deeply they would be affected, as I was by Gigi — I was inspired to reference his work in a new piece for Bella.” 

Bella and Polonsky’s program will also include works by Bach, Haydn, and Grieg. This concert is the second of three celebrating HVCMC’s 75th anniversary season.

In 1975, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich became the first woman to earn a doctorate in composition from the Juilliard School, and later the first to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Music in 1983. Zwilich’s works are marked by their use of extremely simple building blocks from which complex and original structures are built.

Hristova has won numerous awards, including first prize in the Michael Hill International Violin Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. She is also a laureate of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and an Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient. Since then, she has played with major orchestras in the US, and across Asia, Europe, Latin America, and New Zealand. A Curtis Institute of Music and Indiana University graduate, Bella’s mentors have included Ruggiero Ricci, Ida Kavafian, and Jaime Laredo. She plays a 1655 Nicolò Amati violin, once owned by the violinist Louis Krasner. 

Polonsky has played solo with the Moscow Virtuosi, Buffalo Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Memphis Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, and many others. She is also a recipient of a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award.