Milla О. Mihova

MILLA MIHOVA, soprano, was born in Sofia and graduated from the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music, where she studied with Darina Takova. She has been awarded scholarships from the Raina Kabaivanska Foundation at New Bulgarian University and the Boris Christoff Foundation, supporting her advanced training at the Opera Studio of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome under Renata Scotto. In August 2015, she made her debut as Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Operosa Opera Festival. That same year, she appeared as soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Orquestra de Câmara de Cascais e Oeiras in Portugal. Subsequent debuts included Lucia in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Fortuna and Drusilla in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. In 2018, she gave a solo recital of Rossini opera and chamber arias at Bulgaria Hall and was selected for the Accademia Rossiniana “Alberto Zedda” at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, where she participated in masterclasses and concerts and made her debut as Madame Cortese in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims at the Teatro Rossini. Later that year, she sang the soprano solo in Rossini’s Stabat Mater in Bulgaria and in the Petite messe solennelle at Le Grand Amphithéâtre de la Sorbonne in Paris, in a concert organized by the Rossini Opera Festival. In December 2018, she gave a recital of bel canto opera and chamber arias at the New Year’s Music Festival in Sofia’s National Palace of Culture, accompanied by the renowned pianist Richard Barker. Together with Nikolay Stoykov, and at the invitation of the ppIANISSIMO festival, Milla Mihova created the BJORK Alternative project, presenting some of the most iconic pieces of Icelandic singer and composer Björk in arrangements for opera voice with harpsichord, celesta, and piano. A condensed version of the project was later broadcast live on French national radio by Radio France Musique, in a concert from the Théâtre de l’Alliance Française in Paris. In 2019, she appeared at the Mozart Festival in Pravets with a recital of rarely performed opera and chamber arias, again in collaboration with Nikolay Stoykov. With pianist Vasilena Atanasova, she performed the recitals The Nightingale and the Rose and The Other Bel Canto in 2021. In 2023, she created the chamber concert L’heure exquise, and in June 2024 she gave a recital with pianist Giulio Zappa, by invitation of the Italian Cultural Institute and the Sofia Philharmonic. In January 2024, Milla Mihova performed alongside world‑renowned bass‑baritone Sir Bryn Terfel. In July that year, she appeared in a gala concert with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, presenting a series of Puccini arias and duets, and in September she took part in a gala celebrating Raina Kabaivanska’s 90^th birthday at the Ancient Theater in Plovdiv. Her current operatic engagements include debuts in Germany as Abigaille in Verdi’s Nabucco at the Mainz Opera and as Madame Cortese in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims at the Augsburg Opera. She has also sung in Nabucco at the Opera Open Festival in Plovdiv and at the Varna State Opera, in addition to giving a series of recital performances in Bulgaria and abroad. In 2024 and 2025, Milla Mihova appeared in an impressive series of debuts at the Sofia Opera and Ballet, including Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata, Alice Ford in Falstaff, and Nedda in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. She also participates in recordings of theatrical music and maintains an active concert career in Italy, Spain, Germany, and other countries. In February 2025, she was soloist in Rossini’s Stabat Mater at Bulgaria Hall, and in January 2026 she will again perform with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra in one of the masterpieces of 20^th ‑century music, Arthur Honegger’s oratorio Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher.