After her successful career in Germany and in several other countries, the name of the accordionist VERONIKA TODOROVA has gained recognition in Bulgaria. She has a virtuoso command of the instrument and a wide repertoire – she interperts music from baroque, classical and Tango-Nuevo through her own compositions to ethno-jazz. This makes her a sought-after partner on stage by orchestral ensembles and solo performers, such as her impressive projects with violinist Vesko Eschkenazy and the Pleven Philharmonic.
Born in Pleven (1987), Veronika Todorova has been studying accordion since the age of 6. She grew up in the Troyan village of Debnevo, where she received her first music and instrument lessons with Marieta Zhekova in Troyan. The talented student won first place three times at the Accordion Competition in Plovdiv. Veronika Todorova shares that it took her 10 years to get to know the accordion well.
In 2005, at the age of 16, she moved with her family to Germany, where she continued her musical studies. From 2005 to 2007 she was a student at the private Jazz Academy of the famous Italian jazz accordionist Renzo Ruggieri. She was the only girl in his class. The instrument itself is physically difficult for women, so the performers are mostly men. She then graduated from the Music Academy in Darmstadt (Germany). In 2006 at the World Championships in Norway she was named the best accordionist in the world. That same year she was also awarded the title “Master of Germany”.
In 2004 she founded Veronika Todorova Band, releasing her first two albums – Rosso and Balkan Train. The band also played for the Bulgarian audience during their tour in 2008. The band took part in a number of festivals and tours, some of them with radio “HR3” and “Deutsche Welle” – Germany.
Veronika Todorova has participated in various international projects together with musicians such as Christopher Herrmann, Raphael Zweifel, Rainer Michelle, Bodek Janke, Salman Gambarov, Caroline Thon, Tamara Lukasheva, Cynthia Zaven, to name but a few. Together with some of them she founded the group “Eurasians Unity”, which won the prestigious “World Music Prize” in Germany in 2015, and two years later they released their first album with the support of the Goethe Institute.
In 2020, after 17 years of living outside Bulgaria, Veronika Todorova returned to her homeland and founded the International Music and Arts Festival “Jam on the River” in the village of Debnevo. Besides concert activity, she is dedicated to the cause of training children and young musicians.