Bulgarian-British-American soprano, researcher, and teacher Theodora Ivanova Nestorova was the 2018-2019 Fulbright Study/Research Grant Recipient to Vienna, Austria studying in the MA Lied & Oratorium program at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna) while conducting voice science research. Highly impassioned about creating cross-cultural musical and pedagogical connections, Theodora maintains a varied international career as both a vocalist and scholar.

The 2018-2019 first-place winner of the American Prize in Vocal Performance (Art Song College/University Division), Theodora is an avid early and contemporary musician. Her operatic credits include Clorinda (La Cenerentola), Noémie (Cendrillon), and Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel) as well as Oberto (Alcina), and Amore (L’incoronazione di Poppea). She has recorded world premiere compositions at the Bulgarian National Radio in Sofia and was a featured soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, and Haydn’s The Creation. Performing across the American and European continents, Theodora has sung at the Wien Modern Festival, the Bang on a Can 30th Anniversary N.Y.C. Concert, and Emmanuel Music’s The Bach Institute.

As a budding voice science researcher, Theodora has published her work in reputable vocology journals as well as presented her original studies at the National Opera Association conference, as a Voice Foundation New Investigator Research Forum participant, and at the Pan American Vocology Association symposium. She has worked as a Student Laboratory/Research Assistant at the New England Conservatory Voice & Sound Analysis Laboratory and Oberlin’s Otto B. Schoepfle Vocal Arts Center, as well as created the Oberlin Conservatory Student NATS Chapter and served as president of the New England Conservatory Student NATS Chapter.

An experienced voice teacher, Theodora maintains a private voice studio with students from ages 7-70 interested in varied genres and styles. She is also on the online teaching team at Virtu.Academy and Theater in the Attic. Previously, she has taught at community music schools, including New England Conservatory, Oberlin College, and Avon School & Strongsville Academy of Music. 

Theodora’s teaching philosophy strives to instill healthy vocal technique and develop each individual student's unique musicianship and voice. She helps students discover the tools they need to communicate with the world through the medium of music. Theodora has been playing piano for 19 years, is a formerly competitive figure skater, and a linguaphile with a passion for traveling. Both privately and through LingualMuse, she also offers language and pronunciation/diction lessons in German, French, Italian, and Slavic languages.

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Awarded the Ruth Cogan Memorial Scholarship and the Oberlin Alumni Fellowship Grant, Theodora graduated with a BM (Voice Performance & Musicology) from Oberlin Conservatory in May 2018. She is currently pursuing her MM in Vocal Pedagogy at the New England Conservatory.