Lilia Popova was born in Varna , Bulgaria, where she began studying the piano at the age of five. At ten she entered the Music School in her home city. By the time she was sixteen, Ms. Popova had performed numerous recitals, entered and won many national and international competitions including the First Prize at the Stresa International Piano Competition in Italy.

In the following year she received a scholarship to continue her musical education in the United States and arrived in Los Angeles at the age of seventeen. Over the last few years Lilia Popova has received many awards. Among others, she won the First Prize at the Bronislaw Kaper Piano Competition, sponsored by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Music Center Spotlight Award for Classical Music, the Pasadena Fine Arts Club scholarship, and the First Prize at the Joanna Hodges International Competition in Palm Springs. She has performed many solo and chamber music recitals all over the United States, in her native Bulgaria and in Italy. She has been the soloist for such noted ensembles as the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, with the Mexico City Youth Orchestra under Jorge Mester in Mexico City, and with the International Chamber Ensemble of Rome, Italy conducted by Francesco Carotenuto.

A favorite with audiences anywhere, Ms. Popova has been called "outstanding", and "technically superb". After a recent performance in Palm Springs the Beverly Hills Courier wrote: "Calling Lilia a pianist is like calling Pavarotti a member of a trio...she is the embodiment of her music..." Lilia Popova has been featured several times on live radio broadcasts for the classical music stations in Los Angeles, as well as on CBS TV-Channel 2. She has been participant in major fund-raising events, such as a televised performance for ACT for MS Foundation in Palm Springs, which benefits research and treatment of Multiple Sclerosis.

Ms. Popova performs and tours regularly; most recently she founded the St. Ivo piano quartet and toured with them in the United States and in Italy. She recently completed recording her first solo piano album entitled "Naked Soul" with original music by Italian composer Marco Missinato. The album has been released on the independent music label "Music M".