Irina Chirkova - About Me

Born In Bulgaria, Irina Chirkova began learning the cello at the age of five and studied at Sofia Music School from ages six to nineteen. In 1997, Irina traveled overseas for the first time and enrolled at The Boston Conservatory, as a student of Andrew Mark. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from The Boston Conservatory in 2000, and earned her Master's Degree in 2002 under the guidance of Rhonda Rider.

Irina Chirkova is an active solo and chamber musician. As an electric cello band member, Irina plays standing up in the CCBONNES and MystiQuintet groups, with whom she toured internationally (Dubai, Qatar, Greece), as well as within the US. She has also played with Boston area bands in local venues. Ms. Chirkova has performed at political conferences for Bill Clinton and Mitt Romney and she has played on TV shows such as The Late Show with David Letterman and the Jingle Ball event with Kanye West; BET Awards with P.Diddy, (2010).

Up to the fall of 2005, Irina had been a teaching assistant for Rhonda Rider at Wellesley College. Presently, she is a cello faculty at Santa Monica Music Center (Santa Monica), Cornerstone Music Conservatory (Los Angeles), Neighborhood Music School (Downtown Los Angeles), and Opus Music School (Torrance), CA

She is a member of:
Celine Dion's Orchestra, Las Vegas, Caesar's Palace, 2011-2014
Sully Erna (Godsmack) Solo Band;
Mark Salling (Glee) solo band;
Rouge Music Group band;
ChamberPop band

Education__________________________________________________________

The Boston Conservatory, 2000-2002

Master of Music in Cello Performance

The Boston Conservatory, 1997-2000

Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance

Sofia Music Academy, Bulgaria, 1995-1997

Sofia Music School, Bulgaria, 1981-1995

Primary Teachers

Rhonda Rider, 2000-2002

Andrew Mark, 1997-2000

Venceslav Nikolov, 1993-1997

Any Atanasova, 1981-1997

Chamber Music Teachers

Rhonda Rider, Clive Greensmith, Lucy Stoltzman, Jonathan Bass,

Michael Lewin, Venceslav Nikolov

Master Classes

Yo-Yo Ma, Bernard Greenhouse, Aldo Parisot, Timothy Eddy, “Tokyo String Quartet”, Norman Fischer, Andor Toth, Stefan Popov

Orchestra and Chamber Music Experience________________________________

Celine Dion's Orchestra, Las Vegas, 2011-2014

String section-performer with Kanye West on David

Letterman’s “The Late Show” and on MTV, 2006

Electric String Trio “CCbonnes”, tours to Greece, Dubai, Qatar, 2002-2009

"MystiQuintet", 2002-2008

“Jingle Ball” live-show concert, 2005

Solo performances with Houston “Orchestra X”, 2004

Principal cellist, New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, 2002-2003

Concerto soloist & Principal of The Boston Conservatory Orchestra, 1999-2002

Norfolk Chamber Music Festival at Yale Summer School, 2001

The Boston Conservatory Honors String Quartet, 1998-2001

Brandeis Chamber Music Festival, 1998

Civic Symphony Orchestra of Boston, 1997

Sofia International Orchestra, 1996

“P.Vladigerov” Chamber Orchestra, 1996

Greek International Chamber Orchestra, 1996

Recent Concerts and Awards__________________________________________

Caesars Palace, featured cellist at Celine Dion's shows, Las Vegas, 2011

A Sonata Duo presentation at Boston Symphony's Higginson Hall, 2008

Multiple performances in NY City and Miami, 2008

String trio performance for Bill Clinton at Waldorf Astoria, NY, 2007

“String Trio” performer, Fripp Island, South Carolina, 2007-2008

"MystiQuintet" presentations, West Philadelphia Blues Fest, 2006-2007

String section leader, Awards Ceremony for Meryl Streep,

Coolidge Corner Theater, Brookline, MA, 2006

Soloist for Gov. Mitt Romney, MA Conferences, 2004-2005

Aldo Parisot’s Fellowship Recipient, Norfolk Chamber Festival, 2001

Virtu Foundation Instrument Scholarship -- “Metzler” cello, 2001-2008

Winner, The Boston Conservatory Concerto competition, 2001

Semifinalist, National American String Teachers’ Association Competition, 1998

Second prize, Massachusetts ASTA Solo Competition, 1997

Special Prize, “The Music & the Earth” Int. Competition (Chamber section), 1996

Special Prize, “The Music & the Earth” Int. Competition (Solo section), 1994

Third prize, “Young Music Talents” Competition, Bulgaria, 1994

Third prize, National Competition “Svetoslav Obretenov”, Bulgaria, 1994

First prize, “Svetoslav Obretenov” Competition, Bulgaria, 1988

Recordings and TV appearances________________________________________

Radio Tangra, Bulgaria, 2011

"Sanctum Sound" Recording Studio, track recordings, Boston, 2007-2009

MTV and CBS performances with Kanye West, 2006

“Its All About The Arts” BNN Ch. 9 TV Show, 2006

“KOCH” record label, various album recordings, 2005

PBS-TV appearance with Tim Janice, 2003

Recording for the National Radio and TV in Sofia, Bulgaria, 1995

Teaching Experience_________________________________________________

Cello Faculty at: Santa Monica Academy, Santa Monica Music Center, Cornerstone Music Conservatory 2010-2011

String Department Coordinator & Cello Faculty, Brookline Music School, 2002-2009
Founder, String Competition at the Brookline Music School, 2008-2009
Founder, First Annual Cello Competition at the Brookline Music School, 2006

Teaching Assistant, Wellesley College, MA, 2001-2005

Faculty Substitute, Boston University, MA, 2004-2005

“Strings of Summer” Coach-Conductor at the Brookline Music School, 2003-2006

Cello Instructor, Franklin High School, 2002-2003

Judge, Concerto Competition at Longy School of Music, 2002

Teaching Assistant, Private Studio of Andrew Mark, 1997-2002

Cello Instructor, Winnie Ip Piano School, Boston, MA, 2000-2001

Cello Instructor, Manchester Community Music School, NH, 1998-1999