Izabel Markova was born in 1997 in Sofia, Bulgaria. She begins her musical studies with the classical piano and singing at the age of three. At the age of eleven she enters the National School of Music in Sofia, Bulgaria with viola in the class of prof. Stefan Jilkov.
In 2015 Izabel is accepted in Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne in the viola class of prof. Alexander Zemtsov. In 2022 she graduates with a Bachelor and Master Soliste diplôme.
At 19 years old she makes a very significant step towards her professional career becoming a substitute violist in the esteemed Zurich Opernhaus. At only 21 years of age, she proceeds to win the permanent position, becoming one of the youngest members in the orchestra. She is also invited as a guest player in orchestras such as, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Orchestra de Suisse Romande, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Gstaad Festival Orchestra, Camerata Venia Orchestra, United Strings of Europe, Camerata Nordica and others.
Izabel becomes one of the winners of the Schenk Soloistwettweberb 2022 and is invited to perform as a soloist with Argovia Philharmonic, after which she continues to win the special prize given by the orchestra for best collaborative work.
In 2022 the Music Label “Claves” selects her in collaboration with HEMU Lausanne to create her Debut Solo CD, which was released in December of 2023 and has received glowing reviews.
Her chamber music experience includes concerts and festivals with world renown musicians: Misha Maisky (Musica Mundi Festival, Belgium), Antje Weithaas, Pavel Vernikov, Svetlana Makarova, Henri Demarquette, Alexander Zemtsov, Boris Garlitsky (Villa Musica festival), Aleksey Semenenko, Marko Ÿlonen and others.
This year, Izabel wins the audition for 2nd solo viola in OCL and will begin her journey with the orchestra in just a few months.
