She was a violinist born in Sofia, Bulgaria who was born into a musical family where her father was an oboist. She took musical studies in France at the Paris Conservatory.
While she was a student at the Conservatory she performed as a member of the European Symphony Orchestra in the position of concertmaster. With them she made recordings and played in many concerts all over Europe. She was also the concertmaster of the Academy of Music Chamber Orchestra in Sofia where she studied as a Fulbright Scholar.
After her studies in France she relocated to the United States where studied for her Masters degree and doctorate at UCLA and took on the positions of Associate Concertmaster of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, becoming concertmaster in 2009, Principal Second Violin with the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra and as member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Outside of her orchestral work she was First Violin for the ensemble she founded called the California String Quartet. She was also the Music Director for the Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church’s “Musical Sunday Afternoons”. Known as a broadcaster she was recognised as “the voice” of the K-Mozart radio station and associated with the Vision Solo violin strings, who she was a spokesperson for.
A regular performer in international competitions she was the winner of the Jeunesses Musicales International, the Jaroslav Kocian International Violin Competition and the Nedialka Simeneova competition and was a musician at the Salzburg, Spoleto, Brahms and Bach music festivals.
Throughout her career to date she worked with many conductors that include Zubin Mehta, David Newman, Sir Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Bramwell Tovey, John Williams and Pinchas Zukerman to name just a few. She has also performed with countless other acts and ensembles that include Christine Aguilera, Joshua Bell, Black Eyed Peas, Mary J.Blige, Michael Bolton, Bobby Caldwell, Chicago, Harry Connick Jr., Counting Crows, Cracker, Billy Ray Cyrus, El Debarge, Celine Dion, Placido Domingo, Earth Wind & Fire, Sir James Galway, Glendale Pops Orchestra, Alan Jackson, Queen Latifah, Yo-Yo Ma, Bette Midler, Randy Newman, Itzak Perlman, the Redlands Symphony Orchestra, Robin, the Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra and the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra among many others.
A regular performer in the studio she featured on numerous recordings with just a very few of them including Still Unforgettable by Natalie Cole, Pursuit by Jamie Cullum, Soul Symphonyby Will Downing, Serenada Schizophrena by Danny Elfman, Alba Caribena by Gloria Estefan, Message for Albert by Five for Fighting, Q: Soul Bossa Nostra by Quincy Jones, Quiet Nights by Diana Krall, Scores: Songs from Copacabana and Harmony by Barry Manilow, Isn’t It Romantic: The Standards Album by Johnny Mathis, Ironic by Alanis Morrisette, Trumpet Revolution by Arturo Sandoval, Stardust: The Great American Songbook Vol. 3 by Rod Stewart, James Taylor at Christmas by James Taylor, Real Thing by Vanessa Williams and more than 600 film soundtracks for productions such as Along Came a Spider, Avatar, Black Knight, Blade II, Bourne Supremacy, Dreamcatcher, Ice Age, King Kong, Last Samurai, Legally Blonde, Legend of Zorro, Meet the Fockers, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Panic Room, Salton Sea, Scary Movie 3, Star Trek: Nemesis, Taken and XXX among the countless others.
She resided in Los Angeles with her family and passed away from ovarian cancer in 2018 when she was 50 years old.
Sources:
- http://katiapopov.com/
- http://www.laco.org/artists/53/
- http://lbso.org/bios/view/id/26
- http://www.smsymphony.org/sms0809/program1.html
- http://www.facebook.com/events/199391490083408/
- http://www.allmusic.com/artist/katia-popov-p115224/credits
- http://www.allmusic.com/artist/katia-popov-p115224/credits/date-asc/100
- http://www.allmusic.com/artist/katia-popov-p115224/credits/date-asc/200