Lilia Ilieva-Mihaylova

With State Opera Varna, Lilia Ilieva-Mihaylova sang in both performances of the company's Christmas concert The Magical World of the Operetta, given on 15 and 16 December 2023. The programme was drawn from Johann Strauss II, Kálmán, Lehár, Offenbach and Suppé. Born in Varna in 1991, the soprano sang from childhood in the city's Children's and Youth Opera under Gancho Ganchev, finished the mathematics high school in Varna and a degree in international economic relations at the Chernorizets Hrabar Free University, and in 2012 entered the National Academy of Music to study classical singing with Plamen Kartalov, taking her bachelor's degree in 2016 and a master's a year later, and enrolling for a second master's in pedagogy in 2017. She appeared at the Stefan Makedonski National Musical Theatre before joining State Opera Varna as a soloist in April 2020, where her parts have included Yanka in Bulgari ot staro vreme, Liza in Grafin Mariza, Ines in Zorro, Roxie in Chicago, Esmeralda in Notre-Dame de Paris, Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, Nala in The Lion King and Sandy in Grease.