Ralitza Macheva joined the in 2023 as the principal second violin. Ralitza is definitely in the right place when she’s on the stage, for she says that “ Life is a concert. We prepare, we focus, we face our fears, we make mistakes in public but ultimately, we discover who we truly are as we connect with the audience.”
Born in Bulgaria, Ralitza Macheva graduated from the Pancho Vladigerov Music Academy in Sofia, and the Conservatorium van de Enschede, The Netherland. She won many prestigious competitions such as the Bulgarian National Violin and Chamber Music competitions N. Simeonova and The Golden Diana and the Béla Bartók which led to radio and television recordings.
She worked in Seoul, South Korea, as principal violin in the Chamber Music Ensemble, Amadeus, before returning to Bulgaria where she became Associate Concertmaster of the Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra. She moved to South Africa in 2000, and was co-principal second violinist of the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra until 2023.
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Ralitza has a strong affinity with Baroque music, and apart from her collaboration with the Cape Town Baroque Orchestra, she was leader of the Durban-based orchestra, Baroque 2000, and performed many times as soloist. Tours with Baroque 2000 have included The National Arts Festival in Makhanda, the HIFA Festival in Zimbabwe and the Maputo Music and Arts Festival in Mozambique. She took Baroque Violin masterclasses with Chiara Banchini at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland, a workshop with Antoinette Lohmann at UCT and attended the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute in Toronto.
