Dessislava Nenova has an extensive career in music education that encompasses decades of experience in schools, community non-profit organizations, and universities. She has held positions at Albion College, Michigan, as well as Carthage College, Wisconsin; at Michigan State University, Dessislava instructed undergraduate and graduate students where she was assistant to the world-renowned cellist Suren Bagratuni. Dr. Nenova has given master classes as a guest artist at University of Central Arkansas and University of Northern Iowa. In the Chicago area, Dessislava has taught at the British International School, the Urban Prairie Waldorf School, and currently instructs students at Neuqua Valley High School in District 204.   

Since teaching in Chicago, Nenova’s students have received the highest possible ratings and orchestral seating placements in Illinois Solo/Ensemble, Elgin Youth Symphony, Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Midwest Young Artists Conservatory. Students from her studio have gone on to study at top ranking institutions such as the Indiana Jacobs School of Music, Bloomington, Indiana, Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee, and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. In April 2021, two of Dessislava’s students were nationally selected to play for the Lindeblad School of Music masterclass series.

Dessislava Nenova has a long track record of active community engagement and community outreach to under-represented areas of the community, and has been involved in numerous outreach programs within music organizations such as West Michigan Symphony, the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, the Flint Institute of Music and the Lansing Symphony Orchestra.

Teaching Philosophy

Forging her own pedagogical system from out of the renowned Eastern-European school of string playing, Dr. Nenova extends elements from within this rich tradition, but pivots towards a greater awareness of the physical demands of playing the instrument. Recalling principles from the great 20th-century cellist and pedagogue Janos Starker, she teaches a critical awareness of body balance and the avoidance of excess tension in cello playing to her students. Through careful processes of mindfulness and body awareness, the unhindered freedom of musical expression becomes an attainable goal for young musicians.