VERONIKA TODOROVA & CHRISTOPHER HERRMANN, Bulgaria – Germany
Veronika Todorova – accordion
Christopher Herrmann – cello
Veronika Todorova started learning accordion with Marieta Zhekova in Troyan. Later she went to Germany to accomplish her musical skills in Dietz and continued in Italy at the private Jazz Academy of Renzo Ruggieri. The final step in her education was the Music Academy in Darmstadt.
After winning many national and international competitions – such as Deutsche Meisterin in 2006, Primus Ikaalinen in Finland, Città di Lanciano in Italy, Accordion contest in Plovdiv (three times) – Veronika started to actively participate in the music life. She has toured Germany, Italy, Austria, Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia, Romania…
In 2004 she founded Veronika Todorova Band and released two albums with them – Rosso and Balkan Train. With the band Veronika participated in many concerts, festivals, and appeared on radio HR3 and Deutsche Welle.
Currently Veronika is collaborating with many international musicians such as Raphael Zweifel, Rainer Michel, Bodek Janke, Salman Ganbarov, Tamara Lukasheva and many more. With a number of them Veronika formed another group – Eurasians UNITY and won the prestigious World Music Prize in Germany. They released their first album in 2015 with the support of Goethe Institute.
In 2020, after 17 years outside Bulgaria and 180 concerts per year, she decided to return to her homeland and to make a new start. She had established an international festival for music and arts Jam on the River in Debnevo and quickly found her place on the Bulgarian stage. She has a wide repertoire that ranges from baroque, classical and tango – nuevo to her own compositions and ethno jazz. Veronika has collaborated with many Bulgarian musicians and actors like Theodossi Spassov, Koyna Rousseva, Minko Lambov and Sofia Philharmonie. In 2022 and 2023 Veronika toured all over Bulgaria with the famous Bulgarian violinist Vesko Eshkenazy who is the concertmaster of the Konzertgebouw Orchestra.
She often performs with the cellist Christopher Herrmann – a bright and extraordinary instrumentalist, with strong interest not only in classical music and jazz but also in music from other cultures. He has toured with his ensemble in the USA, England, Romania, Switzerland, Austria, France and Italy, among other places. In 2014 he founded the Orchestra of Truth and two years later – his own label Cellosophie. Christopher Herrmann also performs as a pianist, guitarist and violinist.