Photo by Claudia Lucacel
Viktoria Nikolova /yourvoicesIhear / is a singer, performing artist and curator based in the Netherlands. She performs in various singing styles, from classical and contemporary to folklore and electronic music.
Viktoria has participated in numerous projects with various music ensembles in Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Norway, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Her recent performances have been showcased in galleries across the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Canada, France, and Bulgaria.
In 2019/2020, she joined NKK NXT, the internship program of the Netherlands Kamerkoor, where she developed diverse musical, artistic, and production-related skills. She has participated in a few editions of Opera Forward Festival, performed with SILBERSEE opera company, and has taken part in the Holland Festival next to many other Dutch festivals.
In 2019, Viktoria founded the ensemble SamoDivas and created the show “Metamorphosis of a Female Character,” which won the Themaprijs and Oorkaanprijs and premiered at the Grachtenfestival. She graduated with a Master's in Classical Singing from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague in 2017. She obtained her Bachelor's degree from New Bulgarian University, Sofia, with a minor in Cultural Studies.
During her studies, Viktoria developed an artistic research project that connected her classical singing practice with Bulgarian traditional singing. This research has continued to grow, leading to numerous projects and workshops that integrate performance art with body and vocal improvisation. Her research is active through the Bitter Blossoms vocal trio, formed in 2022 with singers Julie Hasfjord and Phoebe Kirrage.
Viktoria has had the opportunity to work with renowned artists such as Ton Koopman, Hans Abrahamsen, Gayle Young, Noa Frenkel, Claro McFadden, Anne-Liis Poll, Fiorenza Cossoto, Eva Maria Wesbroek, Peggi Olislaegers, Gheorgi Arnaudov, Georgi Sztojanov, Vladimir Vlaev, Renán Zelada Cisneros, Bahzad Sulaiman, Christopher Collings, Marina Abramović, Yoel Gamzou, Ali Shobeiri, and Gagi Petrovich, Kristin Nordeval, Jill Sigman, among others.
Currently, Viktoria is studying Cultural Sciences in the Department of Humanities at Leiden University, where she is also developing her curatorial and artistic practice. She is a co-president of Kunstgang Leiden, a student-led artistic commission. In 2024, she graduated form the One-Year Course at the Institute of Sonology, Royal Conservatory, The Hague.
Contact Viktoria for more info.