…her flexible phrasing and shading left no doubt of her imaginative response to music as a language and her ability to communicate.
The Times
Ludmila Tschakalova was born in London and studied piano and harpsichord at The Royal College Music, where she was a major prize winner in harpsichord performance. Her London debut, at The Purcell Room, received enthusiastic acclaim in The Musical Times; this led to a further series of three recitals at the same venue.
Appearing as a solo and ensemble performer throughout the United Kingdom, Ludmila has performed at not only such venues as Fenton House, which were organised by the National Trust, but also The Victoria and Albert Museum, where she performed to acclaim in a series of scholarly-informed concerts on their instrument collections. Further studies in Antwerp, initially with Kenneth Gilbert and later with Jos van Immerseel at the Antwerp Royal Conservatory, intensified her interest in stylistic performance practice, which she has since shared with audiences across Europe as both a performer and lecturer.
In recent years, she has been invited by The British Harpsichord Society to perform at the Handel House Museum, London. Always on the lookout for unusual repertoire, she has championed the music of lesser known composers such as John Blow, whilst still performing works of established masters, such as François Couperin, whose works she has performed in their entirety.
Known also for her imaginative and instructive work as a teacher, Ludmila has been a catalyst in introducing the harpsichord to a wider public, including children, through a series of courses in several areas of Flanders, where she now lives. She has also been a faculty member at the Antwerp Royal Conservatory and is much in demand as not only an examiner, but also as a judge for various competitions.