Bozhidar Bozhkilov

BOZHIDAR BOZHKILOV (born 1993) began his musical education at an early age with piano and solfeggio lessons, after which he enrolled at the Lyubomir Pipkov National Music School, majoring in classical singing in the class of the great Bulgarian baritone Stoyan Popov. He graduated with the same major from the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music in the class of Prof. Niko Isakov. Alongside his musical education, he graduated with a degree in Law from New Bulgarian University (2016). He specialised at the International Opera Academy in Sulmona, Italy; the Boris Christoff Academy in Rome; the Académie du Festival d'Aix-en-Provence; and undertook master vocal courses and private training with Stoyan Popov, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Bruna Baglioni, Montserrat Caballé, Bonaldo Giaiotti, Larisa Gergieva, Carlo Colombara, Luciana D'Intino, and Maestro Mihail Angelov. In 2021, he completed a two-year specialisation at the Academy of Teatro alla Scala in Milan. In 2022, he participated in Raina Kabaivanska's annual master class in Sofia, organised by New Bulgarian University, where he won a scholarship for a one-year training with her at the Vecchi–Tonelli Institute in Modena. At the age of 19, following success in international competitions for opera singers in Italy, he made his opera debut in a series of performances of The Barber of Seville, Madama Butterfly, and La Traviata in Italian productions. Over the next decade, he performed over 25 roles in operas by Verdi, Mozart, Paisiello, Pergolesi, Puccini, Rossini, and Tchaikovsky, and appeared in numerous gala concerts at the Auditorio de Zaragoza – Sala Mozart, Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, Mariinsky Concert Hall, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Regio Torino, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Goldoni in Livorno, Auditorio Alfredo Kraus in Las Palmas, Opéra Bastille in Paris, Royal Opera House – Muscat, and Bulgaria Hall, as well as on stages in Austria, Albania, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Serbia, France, Montenegro, and North Korea. After a national competition (2020), he was selected by soprano Sonya Yoncheva to participate in the gala concert "Return" on the stage of the Ancient Theatre in Plovdiv, and in 2024 to partner her in the role of Colline in Puccini's La Bohème at the Sofia Opera and Ballet, as well as in the role of Cesare Angelotti in Tosca at the Ancient Theatre in Plovdiv. Bozhkilov is a laureate and winner of prestigious awards from over 20 international competitions for opera singers held in Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Romania, Russia, and Croatia. He was awarded the honorary Gold Medal "100 Years Boris Christoff" by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria. He is the recipient of the First National Award "Pancho Vladigerov" in the category "classical singing" for students. He has been nominated twice in the "Young Musician of the Year" polls of the Bulgarian National Radio's Allegro Vivace programme (2020 and 2023), and has been included in Darik Radio's annual "40 Under 40" ranking (2024). He is currently a soloist at the Plovdiv State Opera.