Zlatkowa attended the National Music School Lyubomir Pipkov in Sofia.
She went on to study at the National Academy of Music under Kutewa; she also studied with Guido Agosti in Weimar and Siena and Herman D. Koppel in Denmark.
Kurt Masur signed her, at 14 years old, to perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No.
Her first piano recital in Denmark was at the Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen in August 1975.
Her performance of Chopin's concerto in E-minor with Carlo Zecchi and the Copenhagen Philharmonic on March 1, 1977 was recorded for an LP by the record label Point.