Current Work
Bulgarian-British-American soprano, researcher, and teacher Theodora Ivanova Nestorova has most recently published as first author in the Journal of Voice, Journal of Acoustical Society of America, and Journal of Singing. For her original work on vocal vibrato, Theodora has won the Best Poster Paper Award at the NATS National Conference, is a two-time winner of the Best Student Presentation Award at the Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA) Symposia, and received the First-Place Award from McGill University’s Research Alive Series. As a voice scientist, Theodora has presented at The Voice Foundation’s Symposia (including the New Investigator Research Forum), the International Congress of Voice Teachers, the International Physiology & Acoustics of Singing Conference, the International Symposium on Performance Science, the Fall Voice Conference, and the National Opera Association Conference. Theodora has been a featured guest on the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Chat Series, Voice Study Centre, Vocology in Practice, VocalFri Podcast, The Empowered Musician of the Month, and Modern Artist Podcast, and is looking forward to writing as a Contributor on the VocalPedagogy.com team.
An active pedagogue, Theodora has curated innovative curricula and serves as a course lecturer/instructor at McGill University and Framingham State University while maintaining a private voice teaching and diction coaching (especially Slavic languages) studio, and teaching with Virtu.Academy and The Vocal Coaches. A PAVA Recognized Vocologist, Certified Arts Educator in Vocal Performance by the Performing Arts Medical Association (PAMA), and licensed Laryngeal Manual Therapy/Massage/Oromyofascial Tension Release Clinician, Theodora also interns as the Vocologist/Singing Voice Specialist trainer and practitioner on the Collaborative Voice Care Team at the Vocalex Inc./AXiO Performing Arts Clinic in Montréal.
Music
The first-place winner of the American Prize in Vocal Performance (Art Song), Theodora is an avid early to contemporary musician. She sang the title role, Galatea, in the world premiere of Dean Burry’s Il giudizio di Pigmalione with Opera McGill and was featured on the album Magie with the Wladigeroff Brothers by Little Tribeca/Aparté record label (nominated for the 2023 Opus Klassik Awards). Theodora has also recorded premieres with the Bulgarian National Radio, Le Vivier, and the Indictus Project, and has performed with Fermata Chamber Soloists, in the Jordan Hall Liederabend Series, Wien Modern Festival, Bang on a Can, and Emmanuel Music’s The Bach Institute. As one-half of the experimental soprano-cello duo, Pizzicanto, Theodora was invited to serve as a Music for Food Artist Fellow.
Education
As an educator passionate about advocating for cross-disciplinarity and multi-cultural connections within and beyond music, Theodora was nominated to represent McGill University and earn a M.B.A. in Arts Entrepreneurship within the Global Leaders Institute for Arts Innovation Executive Cohort. A former Fulbright Scholar, Theodora was a Fulbright Study/Research Grant Recipient to Vienna, Austria, studying MA Lied/Oratorio at the University of Performing Arts and Music Vienna and conducting vocology research. Currently, Theodora is a Ph.D. Candidate in Music (Interdisciplinary Studies & Applied Performance Sciences) at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, and holds a MM (Vocal Pedagogy & Music-in Education Concentration) from the New England Conservatory and a BM (Voice Performance/Musicology) from Oberlin College & Conservatory.