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Lora Al-Ahmad (born March 1995) is a Bulgarian pianist and composer. She won many piano awards in compositions throughout Bulgaria before her acceptance into the Mannes College New School of Music in 2013.[1]
After completing her undergraduate program with honors in 2017, Al-Ahmad was granted a full scholarship to the masters program at Mannes College. There, she completed a Double Major masters degree in Piano Performance and Composition.
Frequently inspired by fairytales and narrative storytelling, Lora is interested in scoring music for film alongside her passion for classical music. In May 2020, she uploaded a clip from the film “Attack of the Giant Leeches” (1959) to her youtube channel, which she edited with a score she composed herself. The channel features a number of videos of Al-Ahmad’s compositions, as well as videos of her own piano performance dating back to 2018.
In May 2019, the final concert of the series “Musical Treasures from Bulgaria” was dedicated to Al-Ahmad as a composer and pianist. The concert took place at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in New York City.
In November 2021, Lora was invited as the Guest Composer and Lecturer at SIUE (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville), where the premiere of her Piano Trio "Irminden" took place. “Irminden” went on to be featured in a new CD release in 2022, titled "Irminden: One Hundred Years of Bulgarian Piano Trios."
Al-Ahmad is now based in New York City, where she frequently performs in venues throughout the city. She is a faculty member in the Piano Department at Bard College Preparatory Division, and is an executive board member of the concert series “Bulgarian Concert Evenings of New York.” (BCENY)[2]
Education
Starting at the age of six, Lora Al-Ahmad studied piano for four years under Bulgarian tutor Rozamira Komitova. In 2005, when Al-Ahmad was 10 years old, she was accepted into the class of Alexander Vassilenko at the Lyubomir Pipkov National School of Music in Sofia, Bulgaria.[1] She studied there until 2012, before moving to New York City to continue her music studies at the age of 17.
During her time at Mannes College, Al-Ahmad studied piano under Pavlina Dokovska and Vladimir Valjarevic. She also studied composition with Lowell Liebermann.[2]
In 2015, Lora was focused on Flute Performance at Mannes. In her second year of school, she took an elective course titled ‘Composition for Non-Majors.’ The class was taught by contemporary composer David Loeb, who has taught a number of renowned composers, including Pullitzer and 3 time Grammy winner Jennifer Higdon. After presenting a short piano prelude she had written for the class, Loeb pulled Al-Ahmad aside. Al-Ahmad described the moment in an interview for TV1 Bulgaria, crediting Loeb for inspiring her to start composing music.
“Mr. Loeb didn't say anything about it, but he did make comments for all of my classmates. He just asked me to stay and talk to him after class, and I remember being a little worried about it, thinking I did something wrong. And then I stayed and he told me that he thinks I should do this professionally, and I looked at him with disbelief and that's how it all actually started.”[3]
As of 2023, Al-Ahmad is pursuing Doctoral Studies in Piano Performance at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City.[4]
Compositions
Al-Ahmad composes primarily for piano and solo instruments. Select works are available for purchase by the Theodore Presser Company. As of 2023, Lora Al-Ahmad serves as a resident composer for the “Off the Beaten Path” Chamber Festival in Kovatchevitsa, Bulgaria.[5]
| Select Works | Select Piano Works |
|---|---|
| Two Skazkas for solo flute | Irminden for piano trio |
| Wandering Mind for flute and bassoon, | Consolation for piano solo |
| Elegy for cello and piano | Earthy Concerns for piano quartet |
| Mutual for violin and piano | |
| On the Bright Side for trumpet and piano |
| Awards[6] |
|---|
| May 2020, Al-Ahmad’s composition "Two Skazkas," received the First Prize in the Solo Flute category at the 2020 Newly Published Music Competition by the National Flute Association in the United States |
| Received First Prize for best Bartok Performance at “GCC Series' 2017, based in the United Kingdom |
| Sixth International Piano Competition "Liszt-Bartok" in Sofia (Second Prize) |
| Twenty-First National Competition "Svetoslav Obretenov" in Provadia (Third Prize) |
| Seventh International Competition "Classic and Contemporaneity" (First Prize and Special Prize for the performance of the Bulgarian piece) |
Advocacy for Women Composers
In February 2021, Lora Al-Ahmad organized a concert titled “Chamber Music by Young Women Composers.” The concert was organized for Bulgarian Concert Evenings New York (BCENY) and featured works by Al-Ahmad and her colleagues Shahar Regev and Hyejin Cho. Al-Ahmad’s doctoral recital for City University of New York (CUNY) was also focused on featuring women composers.[2]
References edit
- ^ a b “Lora Al-Ahmad.” Great Composers Competition Series. Accessed March 10, 2024. http://www.gccseries.online/2017/03/lora-al-ahmad.html.
- ^ a b c “Lora Al-Ahmad.” Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York. Accessed March 10, 2024. https://www.bceny.org/lora-alahmad.
- ^ Al-Ahmad, Lora. “‘anfas’: Interview with Lora Al-Ahmad TV1 Bulgaria.” YouTube, June 21, 2020.
- ^ Program for recital: Lora Al-Ahmad, piano. Performance by Lora Al-Ahmad, at Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall, City University of New York, New York. May 10th, 2023
- ^ “Lora Al-Ahmad.” Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York. Accessed March 10, 2024. https://www.bceny.org/lora-alahmad.
- ^ “Lora Al-Ahmad.” Great Composers Competition Series. Accessed March 10, 2024. http://www.gccseries.online/2017/03/lora-al-ahmad.html.