Prof. Maria Ilieva, Ph.D.
Head of Department
The first steps towards establishing the Musical Theatre Department were made during the academic year of 1948/1949. The idea came from Prof. Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin, who was Director of the State Academy of Music between 1948 and 1954. He invited Dragan Kardzhiev, who was stage director at the Sofia Opera to teach acting. A graduate of the Frankfurt Music Academy, a respected and established director of numerous memorable productions – including shows in Bayreuth, he selected two other celebrated artist as drama professors – Mihail Yankov (a graduate of the Vienna Music Academy from Prof. Theo Lierhammer’s singing class, and Prof. Hans Duhan’s theatre class), and Stefka Atanasova (who graduated from Prof. Elena Angelova-Orukin’s Classical Singing class at the National Academy of Music and later specialized in Acting under Prof. Anna Bahr-Mildenburg in Vienna).
Later, additional coursers were introduced alongside the acting classes, such as Elocution, Plasticity, Historical Dance, Stage Makeup, Study of Styles, Fencing.
With the widened spectrum of courses taught, the new Opera and Stage Art Department was established in 1952, with Prof. Dragan Kardzhiev the first Head of Department. The conductors Asen Dimitrov and Atanas Margaritov were invited to teach a course on the specific work of conductors with singers (today, the course is called Opera Singing with Conductor).
Prof. Lyubomir Pipkov had a significant role in the development of the department in terms of academic, pedagogical and creative activities. He was responsible for creating the Training Opera Theatre (today, the Student Musical Theatre) in 1964, as a place where the students, with the help of their teachers – directors and conductors, could create complete stage productions.
In 1980, the department was renamed Musical Theatre Department. In 1991, a new degree course was introduced – Ballet Pedagogy, and later, another one – Ballet Directing.
Ballet Pedagogy is the first academic degree course in the history of Bulgarian dance for professional ballet teachers in the higher education institutions. Its founders were Prof. Petar Lukanov and the prima ballerina Assoc. Prof. Kalina Bogoeva.
In 1991, another degree course was introduced within the department – Musical Theatre Directing. It was founded by the acting teacher Prof. Pavel Gerdzhikov, and its students receive professional education as directors specialized in the various forms of musical theatre.
THE STUDENT MUSICAL THEATRE
In 1964, Lyubomir Pipkov initiated the foundation of a Training Opera Theatre. It was a place where students – with the help of their professors as directors and conductors – could have regular stage appearances in the productions of various operas, operettas and musicals.
The Theatre’s first production was “Don Pasquale” by Gaetano Donizetti, which premiered on May 24th, 1964 at the Sofia Opera (conducted by Hristo Stanishev, directed by Mihail Yankov, stage design by Evgenia Raeva). Over the years, the Training Opera Theatre had performances on the stages of the Concert Hall of the Academy of Music, the Sofia National Opera, The State Musical Theatre, as well as in Vidin, Blagoevgrad, Sliven. Between 1980 and 1990, the Theatre had a lasting and fruitful cooperation with the Workers’ Opera in Sliven.
Throughout its history, the Training Theatre had a number of stage productions, including “The Abduction from the Seraglio” by Mozart (1968, Sofia Opera), “The Bartered Bride” by Smetana (1975, Sofia Opera), “The Marriage of Figaro” by Mozart (1977, Stefan Makedonski State Music Theatre, Sofia), “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini (1980, Sliven Workers’ Opera), “The Elixir of Love” by Donizetti (1981, Sliven Workers’ Opera), “A Beggar’s Opera” by B. Britten (1984, Sofia Opera), “The Consul” by Menotti (1987, National Palace of Culture, Sofia), “Trouble in the Monastery” by G. Kostov (1989, Blagoevgred Chamber Opera), “The Bat” by J. Strauss (1990, Sliven Workers’ Opera). The productions were conducted by Asen Naydenov, Atanas Margaritov, Radosveta Boyadzhieva, Lyuben Pintev, Ivan Vulpe, Nedyalko Nedyalkov, Boris Hinchev, and directed by Dragan Kardzhiev, Mihail Yankov, Vladimir Danovski, Stefan Trifonov, Petar Shtarbanov, Mihail Hadzhimishev and Pavel Gerdzhikov. These productions were the first stage experience for several generations of Bulgarian opera artists, who would later shine on prestigious opera stages around the world.
In recent years, productions of the Training Theatre include many classical and contemporary works, which bring the total number of musical works of art in the Theatre’s repertoire to over 100. A crucial role for the high professional and artistic level of the productions is played by the theatre’s conductors – Prof. Hristo Ignatov, Ph.D., Prof Ivaylo Krinchev, Ph.D., Assoc. Prof. Atanas Varadinov, and Assoc. Prof. Deyan Pavlov, Ph.D.
In 2012, the Training Opera Theatre was renamed to Student Musical Theatre in line with the widening of its repertoire to include musical works outside the opera genre. The Bulgarian National Academy of Music is one of the few educational institutions in the world to have a fully functioning representative training musical theatre stages.
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CURRENT ACADEMIC STAFF
Conductors
Prof. Ivaylo Krinchev, Ph.D.
Prof. Deyan Pavlov, Ph.D.
Assistant Boris Spasov
Assistant Vladimir Boshnakov
Directors
Acad. Plamen Kartalov
Prof. Pavel Gerdzhikov
Prof. Violeta Gorcheva, Ph.D.
Assoc. Prof. Alexander Tekeliev, Ph.D.
Assoc. Prof. Nina Naydenova, Ph.D.
Assistant Stefan Donev
Assistant Ognyan Draganov
Plasticity
Prof. Tsonka Velikova, Sc.D.
Assistant Marcho Apostolov
Rhythmics
Prof. Ivelina Ivancheva
Assistant Nataliya Hristova-Krachanova, part-time lecturer
Jazz Dance
Chief Assistant Radoslav Radev, Ph.D.
Opera and Musical Theatre Writing
Prof. Boyanka Arnaudova
Musical Theatre Writing and Interpretation
Chief Assistant Emelina Gorcheva, Ph.D.
Ballet Pedagogy and Ballet Directing
Assoc. Prof. Kalina Bogoeva
Prof. Maria Ilieva, Ph.D.
Prof. Zhelka Tabakova, Ph.D.
Prof. Aneliya Yaneva, Sc.D., part-time lecturer
Assistant Bonka Matova, Ph.D., part-time lecturer
Assistant Nataliya Tsoneva, Ph.D., part-time lecturer
Assistant Angelina Gavrilova, part-time lecturer
Art History and Study of Styles
Senior Lecturer Penka Kazandzheva, Ph.D.
Accompanists
Mira Iskarova
Blaga Nikolova
Evelina Stanchovska
Maria Ruseva. Ph.D.
Daniela Yaneva
Tsvetomira Tsoneva
Yolanta Smolyanova
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FORMER ACADEMIC STAFF
Conductors
Prof. Asen Dimitrov (1894 – 1960)
Atanas Margaritov (1912 – 1998)
Hristo Stanishev (1930 – ?)
Dragomir Nenov (1927 – 2016), part-time lecturer
Lyuben Pintev (1925 – 2000)
Mihail Lefterov (1907 – 2006)
Rositsa Batalova (1930 – 2015), part-time lecturer
Radosveta Boyadzhieva (1923 – 2018), part-time lecturer
Ivan Marinov (1928 – 2003)
Prof. Ivan Vulpe (1930 – 2003)
Prof. Boris Hinchev (1934 – 2008)
Prof. Nedyalko Nedyalkov (1935 – 2001)
Prof. Alexander Yosifov (1940 – 2016)
Prof. Hristo Ignatov, Ph.D. (1948 – 2019)
Assoc. Prof. Atanas Varadinov (1959 – 2016)
Directors
Prof. Dragan Kardzhiev (1896 – 1968)
Assoc. Prof. Mihail Yankov (1912 – ?)
Evstati Evstatiev (1912 – 1997), assistant director at the Student Opera Theatre
Mihail Hadzhimishev (1914 – 1987), part-time lecturer
Assoc. Prof. Stefka Atanasova (1918 – ?)
Prof. Petar Shtarbanov (1920 – 2005), part-time lecturer
Prof. Stefan Trifonov (1922 – 2007)
Vladimir Danovski
Prof. Svetozar Donev
Prof. Rumen Neykov, Sc.D.
Acting
Georgi Donchev (1884 – 1950) – opera and drama exercises
Dragomir Kazakov (1866 – 1948) – stage and drama exercises
Hrisan Tsankov (1890 – 1967)
Iliya Ivanov (1901 – 1958), part-time lecturer
Assoc. Prof. Gerda-Glocke Angelusheva (1909 – 1993), part-time lecturer – mise-en-scene
Gavraila Daskalova (1922 – ?)
Vanya Bachvarova
Plasticity
Nikolay Vekov (?)
Maria Dimova (1901 – 1944)
Anastas Petrov (1899 – 1978), part-time lecturer
Dora Mushanova (1920 – 1994), part-time lecturer
Dance
Natalya Yakovleva
Maria Angelova
Stage Makeup and Costume
Georgi Donchev (1884 – 1950)
Nikolay Vekov (?)
Vasil Sachanov (1920 – 2001), part-time lecturer
Elocution and Declamation
Nadezhda Kostova (1899 – ?)
Zdravka Stoynova (1904 – ?)
Nevena Hadzhieneva, part-time lecturer
Bocho Vasilev
Ballet Pedagogy and Ballet Directing
Prof. Petar Lukanov
Teodor Popov, Ph.D., part-time lecturer
Study of Styles
Anna Hadzhimisheva (1915 – 1994), part-time lecturer
Assoc. Prof. Radostin Chomakov (1937 – 2016)
Fencing
Evstati Evstatiev (1912 – 1997), part-time lecturer
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HEADS OF THE DEPARTMENT
Prof. Dragan Kardzhiev (1896 – 1968)
Prof. Lyubomir Pipkov (1904 – 1974)
Prof. Rumen Neykov, Sc.D.
Prof. Ivaylo Krinchev, Ph.D.
Assoc. Prof. Atanas Varadinov (1959 – 2016)
Prof. Violeta Gorcheva, Ph.D.
Prof. Deyan Pavlov