Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Lora started studying violin at the age of 5 in the National School of Music “Lyubomir Pipkov” in Sofia, in the class of the most prominent Bulgarian pedagogue Blagorodna Taneva.
She is a laureate of numerous First prizes from national competitions such as “Young Virtuosos” 2013, “Dobrin Petkov”2013, “Nedyalka Simeonova”2014, and “Grand Prix” form “Music and Earth” 2018, “Hopes, Masters, Talents”2019, Nedyalka Simeonova” 2021. Her international achievements include major prizes from competitions like: “Andrea Postacchini “ and “Piccolo Violino” in Italy, “Anton Rubinstein” Germany, “Odesa” Ukraine, “Concertino Praga”, Czech Republic. In 2020 she won First Prize from the International Violin Competition “Leonid Kogan” in Brussels and in 2021 she was awarded First Prize from “Tibor Varga Junior” Violin Competition in Switzerland which leads to multiple concert opportunities for her and an invitation by the Swiss Artist Agency “AMG Rising Stars” to perform recitals in Basel and Geneva.
In 2020 Lora is awarded the Special Prize “Olga Kamburova” for a young talent of the year and in 2021 is nominated for “Young Musician of the Year” by the Bulgarian National Radio. She is also the holder of the Annual Prize of “Stoyan Kambarev” Arts Foundation for 2021.
She has been appearing as a soloist in many festivals in concerts, to name some of them: “Colourful Days of Bulgaria” Germany, “Musica Mundi” Belgium, „Treasures of Bulgaria” Carnegie Hall, New York and others in France, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Portugal, Austria and worked with conductors Domenico Mason, Giancarlo Guarino, Leonid Kerbel, Marek Šedivý, Alexander Gordon.
In Bulgaria Lora is a sought after solo artist and performs at concerts with leading Bulgarian philharmonic orchestras in Pleven, Vidin, Vratsa, Shumen, Sliven, Sofia in collaboration with conductors Emil Tabakov, Grigor Palikarov, Yordan Kamdzhalov, Maxim Eshkenazy, Pavel Zlatarov, Tsanislav Petkov, Kalina Vasileva.
Lora is also committed to chamber and ensemble music playing. She is often invited by some of the outstanding musicians of the new generations but also by prominent names in classical music to share the stage in different festivals and events in Germany, Finland, Switzerland and Bulgaria. In 2021 with her duo partner Syon Najman (cello) they received First Prizes from the competitions “Music and Earth” and “Cantus Firmus” Sofia and the Special Prize of “Bohuslav Martinu” Foundation from “Concertino Praga” International Competition.
Her musical experience include masterclasses with Leonidas Kavakos, Michael Frischenschlager, Dora Schwarzberg, Zachar Bron, Ivry Gitlis, Pavel Vernikov, Svetlana Makarova, Rainer Schmidt, Boris Garlitsky, Julian Rachlin, Svetlin Roussev, Vesko Eshkenazy.
Lora is supported by “Yordan Kamdzhalov” Foundation and is a holder of the Scholarship of Leonidas Kavakos Masterclasses and Dakk App for 2021. From the academic 2022/2023 year Lora Markova is continuing her education in “Hanns Eisler” Academy of Music in Berlin in the class of professor Kolja Blacher.