Milena Albrecht, Assistant Principal Cello
First Season with MSO: 2006-07
Milena Albrecht, a native of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, has been the assistant principal cellist of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra since August 2006. Prior to joining the MSO, she was a cellist at the New World Symphony for 3 years under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. Mrs. Albrecht was also a member of the Las Vegas Philharmonic and Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. With the GMYO she had the pleasure to work with great conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Seiji Ozawa, Mariss Jansons, Pierre Boulez and Franz Welser-Most touring all over Europe, the United States, Cuba, and South America. In 2002 she was accepted as a fellow to the Tanglewood Music Center where young musicians receive intensive music training with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This past summer she worked at the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, CO. Mrs. Albrecht holds a Bachelors degree from Bulgarian Academy of Music and a Master's degree from the University of Nevada.
Some Facts About Milena
Hobbies: I like to travel with my husband, spend time with friends, cook and do scrapbooking
If she hadn't become a musician, Milena would have enjoyed being a: photographer
Milena enjoys reading: Short stories from Hemingway
Favorite Memphis restaurant: Interstate Barbecue
Favorite vacation: Greece and I am going this summer! I also would like to see Japan, China and Thailand.
Her most influential teacher: My cello professor from Sofia's Music Academy, Bogomil Karakonov
Her earliest musical memory: practicing piano and going to choir rehearsals when I was 6
Favorite composers: Beethoven, Mahler, Stravinsky
What she listens to in the car: Almost anything. I like to have variety.
What she enjoys most about performing: The exitement and big smiles that I see in people's faces after each concert. It is amazing to me how much you can touch somebody's soul without saying a single word.
