Ralitsa Petrova

​

Ralitsa Penkova is an award-winning pianist known for her captivating performances of the music of Chopin, Liszt and Scriabin. During her studies in her home country of Bulgaria, she has been a regular soloist with the Rousse Symphony Orchestra, playing piano concertos by Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Saint-Saëns and Shostakovich. She was awarded first prizes at various international piano competitions in Eastern Europe. Ralitsa was granted scholarships for masterclasses with renowned concert pianists Dmitri Bashkirov, Georg Friedrich Schenk, Paul Badura-Skoda, Maria Prinz and others. She studied with Prof. Patrick O’Byrne in Bremen, Germany, where she graduated from a Bachelors in Music with distinction. During her studies she was awarded the first prize at the Steinway Förderpreis Piano Competition 2012 in Hamburg, Germany. She continued her studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, Belgium where she studied with Prof. Sergei Edelman and graduated with distinction from her Masters Degree in Piano Performance in 2024.

 

Ralitsa has performed regularly as a soloist and chamber musician at International fesivals 'Fěte de la Musique' in Germany, 'Vilalte Music Festival' in southern France, 'Harmonices Mundi', 'Sant’ Appolinare' and 'Festival di musica di Capraia' in Italy. 

 

Ralitsa became established as a soloist in the UK when she moved to Sussex in 2017. She has regularly performed recitals on 19th century instruments tuned to historical temperaments at Hammerwood Park. She has played a great number of recitals across south of England and the Channel Islands.

​

​

Alexander Ling

​

Alexander Edward Ling (born in the south of England in 1994) is a composer and pianist. His church music has been performed in churches across London as part of the London Festival for Contemporary Church Music 2023. In the past year Alexander has also set poems by John Masefield and Walter de la Mare; his setting of the poem Snow was awarded first prize in composition by the Association of English Singers and Speakers. Alexander’s experience as an orchestrator and arranger has seen him work alongside Terry Davies, Laura Jurd, Ben Corrigan, Robert Ames, the London Contemporary Orchestra and Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures to name a few.

 

Alexander is also Assistant Director of Music at St. John the Baptist Church in Catford, where he plays organ and conducts the choir.

​

In April 2023, Alexander walked the 100 mile South Downs Way in memory of his music teacher Martin Read who died in 2012. Alexander is a trustee of the Martin Read Foundation charity.