BIO
Bella Dorian is a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording artist from Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Bella started playing classical piano at the age of five, and added singing to her musical maturation at the age of sixteen. Bella's love for the piano never went away, and she reengaged with it thoroughly soon after her first singing lesson, but this time with a focus on pop and rock music. Her love for more contemporary styles (now including Jazz) led to her attending the world-renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Contemporary Writing and Production. While at Berklee, she routinely performed and shared the stage with countless immensely talented peers, as well as international music giants including Shankam Mahadevan (beloved Indian mega-star), Vadim Nesselovky (world famous Ukrainian piano virtuoso) Gary Burton ("King of the Vibes") and Lionel Richie (Lionel Richie!). While attending Berklee, Bella also worked for nearly two years at Howl at the Moon, the nation's premier dueling piano bar, in both Boston and Foxborough, MA. At Howl, she sang and performed literally hundreds of songs across a spectrum of genres and styles on a variety of instruments including Drums, Bass, Guitar...and of course Piano. Back at home in Bulgaria for a year after graduating Berklee, Bella rediscovered her passion for traditional Bulgarian folk music and studied accordion in her home country...as if she didn't already play enough instruments! In 2017 she won second place at the American Protege singing contest in the Musical Theatre category, Audience Choice winner at the Seacoast Idol competition in New Hampshire, and in December of that year she fulfilled a lifelong dream by performing at Carnegie Hall in NYC (as an American Protege winner). Bella has been in demand the past few years in Western Mass, performing frequently as a solo artist and in several local bands. During that time, she also wrote, played on, sang, recorded and produced her first EP...“BOOM”. BOOM consists of four original compositions that defy genre, and that deftly draw on country and rock styles with just a touch of Bulgaria thrown in for good measure. In 2021 the siren call of Music City became impossible to ignore (and the insanity of 2020 began to calm down a little bit!) - Bella Dorian has now relocated to Nashville, to write the next chapter of her musical journey...