Pizzicanto Duo

Pizzicanto Duo is a duo ensemble comprised of soprano Theodora Nestorova and cellist Alex Fowler, who began collaborating together while both studying at Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music. Pizzicanto Duo arranges, performs, and records music both within and outside the Western Art Music canon while broadening the repertoire for a duo of solo instruments. Theodora and Alex’s mission in forming Pizzicanto is to raise awareness of overshadowed socio-cultural issues by elevating marginalized repertoire, especially underrepresented Eastern world music.

Boston-based cellist, teacher, arranger Alex Fowler has appeared frequently on the Boston Symphony Orchestra concert series, What I Hear, performing solo and chamber works. Alex received New England Conservatory’s John Cage Award for Contemporary Performance and won Entrepreneurial Musicianship’s Spark Award for his work as a musical storyteller through the Community Performances & Partnerships program, curating original programs combining stories and cello repertoire for young audiences. Alex has performed with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Emmanuel Music, Boston Chamber Symphony, Phoenix Orchestra, Apollo Chamber Ensemble, Longwood Symphony Orchestra, and Palaver Strings. He also teaches at the Community Music Center of Boston and runs his own private studio. Upcoming 2022-23 season appearances include solo cello works with the Fermata Chamber Ensemble and performing as principal cellist of the Du Bois Orchestra.

Bulgarian-British-American soprano, researcher, and teacher Theodora Ivanova Nestorova is the first-place winner of the American Prize in Vocal Performance (Art Song), recording world premiere compositions for international record label album releases with the Wladigeroff Brothers, Bulgarian National Radio, Indictus Project, Wien Modern Festival, and Bang on a Can Marathon. An active educator, Theodora has won first-place awards at the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Conference and the Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA) Symposium for her original, published research. As a devoted pedagogue, Theodora maintains a private voice and language coaching studio while serving as a course lecturer/instructor at Framingham State University. Nominated for the Global Leaders Program Executive Cohort, Theodora is a former Fulbright Scholar to Vienna, Austria, and has studied at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, New England Conservatory, and Oberlin Conservatory.