Olga Dragieva is a professional violinist and a private violin teacher. Born in Sofia, Bulgaria into a musical family; her mom Tatiana Bozhko, is a professional pianist and her dad was a sound engineer. Olga started playing the violin when she was four, and at six she enrolled in the National Music School in Sofia, Bulgaria where she intensively studied violin, chamber music, music history, theory and solfège. When she was only six years old, Olga performed as a Soloist with Orchestra Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in a minor in the main performance hall in Sofia—Bulgaria Hall. Later, she recorded the piece for Bulgarian Television.

When Olga was only 16 she was chosen to become one of the youngest members of the International Gustav Mahler Orchestra; more than 2000 people audition yearly for a chance to become members! With this orchestra, Olga Dragieva had the opportunity to perform with legendary conductors and the most prominent soloists; including Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Frank Welser Möst, Martha Argerich, Radu Lupu and many others. Olga has performed internationally in Bulgaria, Greece, Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Switzerland and the USA. In 2003, she had the privilege of performing with Pierre Boulez for the Japanese Emperor in Osaka, Japan. Olga has recordings with Gustav Mahler Orchestra for the Deutsche Grammophon and EMI Classics labels.

Olga Dragieva has a Master’s degree from the National Academy of Music in Sofia, Bulgaria where she studied under Professor Yossif Radionov. While in Sofia, Olga served as the associate concertmaster of the New Symphony Orchestra where she worked with Rossen Milanov and Carl St.Clair. When she was 22 years old, after receiving a full scholarship for a Master’s in Violin Performance and Chamber Music, Olga moved to Tampa, Florida where she studied with Carolyn Stuart and was her teaching assistant for four years. While in Florida, Olga played with many orchestras in the area. In 2009 Olga performed as a Soloist with Orchestra Hartmann Concerto Funebre at the Helps Festival in Tampa, Florida.

Ms. Dragieva is a winner of many Violin Competitions in Bulgaria and the USA. She has participated in Chamber Music Festivals in Thessaloniki-Greece, Ferrara and Bolzano-Italy, “Green Mountain” in Burlington-Vermont and Midsummer Music Festival in Door County where in 2016 she performed with David Perry and members of the Lyric Opera-Chicago.

In 2010 Olga moved to Madison, Wisconsin to pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Violin Performance with a Minor in Art History in the studio of David Perry on a full scholarship. She has lived in Madison ever since and her appreciation and love of the city and the area surrounding it continues to grow. From 2010 to 2013 Olga was a member of the Graduate Hunt Quartet with which she visited 18 Elementary schools in the Dane County area, taught about the elements of music and performed many recitals. From 2013 to 2015 Ms. Dragieva was a Teaching Assistant of Professor David Perry. In 2015, as part of her final doctoral project Olga made a World Premiere CD Recording of Bulgarian Pieces for Solo Violin which has been critically acclaimed in Bulgaria and the USA. Currently, Olga is a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, she performs regularly with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Dr. Dragieva maintains a private violin studio on the near west side of Madison and teaches at Music con Brio.

When Dr. Dragieva is not busy performing or teaching the violin, Olga enjoys learning new languages (the current one is Italian), loves photography, art history and travel. In 2018 Olga became a co-owner and an Airbnb host of a Charming Swiss Chalet in the scenic Upper Peninsula of Michigan. If you enjoy the outdoors, hiking and skiing, we would love to host you! You can check out the listing here. Owning a Swiss Chalet, designing the interior and picking all the charming details with the co-host Slaveiko Savov opened the door to another creative outlet— the Instagram Interior Design account @olgadstyling. This is how Olga D Interiors was born. Olga offers virtual design services— living room design, nursery room design and bedroom design. If your house is in need of a makeover, check out all the different design packages. These features are currently being updated and will be added to the website soon.