Irina Zhekova

Touring the Netherlands with the State Opera Varna in 2011, Irina Zhekova sang in Almere, Zwolle and Gouda, in casts that included Valeri Georgiev, Dieter Gofing and Vitali Rozynko. She had also appeared with Karina Skrzeszewska and Georgios Filadelfefs in the production's Varna premiere on 18 August. A native of Varna, she finished her classical singing degree at the National Academy of Music in Sofia in 2008 and went on to study in Rome with Mirella Parutto and Antonio Boyer and at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia with Renata Scotto. Her debut came at the Sofia Opera in 2010 as Woglinde in Das Rheingold, and she joined the Varna company as a soloist in the year of the Dutch tour. Gilda, Violetta, Lucia, Adina, Norina, Oscar, Nannetta, Musetta and Liu belong to her repertoire, with Wagner roles beside them, and she has recorded for Bulgarian National Radio. Her Rome studies took place in 2009–2010 and her Santa Cecilia training in 2014–2015.