Ivaylo Mihaylov

Bulgarian tenor IVAYLO MIHAYLOV started his professional career after long- time experience in the Stela Blagoeva Plovdiv Boys Choir. Graduated from a language school on London and then enrolled and completed a class in classical singing in 1997 with Valerie Popova at the National Academy of Music in Sofia. Continued with a master’s degree in vocal pedagogy at the New Bulgarian University and in Art Management and Musical Stage Direction at the Academy for Music and Dance Arts in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. After winning a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture (2002) specialized at the Boris Christoff Academy in Rome under the direction of Giuseppe Taddei. Continued his education at the Academy for Opera and Baroque Art in Osimo (Italy) with Luigi Alva, Rai- na Kabaivanska and William Matteuzzi. A graduate from the class of Kaludi Kaludov. Debuted as director on the stages of the Plovdiv and Ruse Operas and at the Mozart Festival in Pravets, Bulgaria, with the stage performance of Mozart’s opera Bastien und Bastienne. His debut at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Sofia took place in 2012 in the role of Ernani from Giuseppe Verdi’s eponymous opera. The following year he sang at the National Opera in Bucharest, Coliseo do Porto and at the Cagliari Opera Theatre. For ten years Mihaylov has been a permanent feature at the Ancient Theatre Festival in Plovdiv and for four years has functioned as a permanent guest soloist at the opera in Spoleto, Italy. With the theatre‘s company he participated in a produc- tion of La Bohème in Japan (2015) and in the productions of Un ballo in maschera (2016) and Carmen (2017), in productions in various cities of Italy. The repertoire of Ivaylo Mihaylov comprises over thirty leading operatic roles. In 2013/2014 he acted as mentor and judge in the first edition of “Pop star to opera star” in Vietnam and a vocal instructor in X-factor. In 2012 he was involved in the animation films Brain Damage и Bulgar, directed by Nedelcho Bogdanov. In 2022, he received the Plovdiv Award.