For many years she was a soloist of the Sofia Opera. After passing a competition in 1963 her engagements began. Her debut role was Konchakovna from Alexander Borodin's "Prince Igor", which she performed with great success over the years. Her beautiful mezzo-soprano voice led her to interesting portrayals at various times in her career, such as Siébel from Charles Gounod's "Faust", Fyodor from Modest Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov", Cherubino from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Le nozze di Figaro", Octavian from Richard Strauss's "Der Rosenkavalier", Orfeo from Christoph Willibald Gluck's "Orfeo et Eurydice". Of course, one cannot miss the female characters, which she portrayed with great elegance and vocal skill. These are Angelina from "La Cenerentola" by Gioachino Rossini, Adalgisa he "Norma" by Vincenzo Bellini, Leonora from "La favorita" by Gaetano Donizetti, Eboli from "Don Carlo", Ulrica from "Un ballo in maschera", Amneris from "Aida", Azucena from Giuseppe Verdi's "Il trovatore", Princess di Buillon from Francesco Chilea's "Adriana Lecouvreur", Olga and Polina from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades".

In addition to all the listed opera participations of Reni Penkova are her engagements in chamber concerts, in concerts presenting works of Bulgarian composers.

For many young opera singers, she was the faithful friend and teacher they relied on during their studies. She was a lecturer at Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music.

She could often be seen in the hall of the Sofia Opera and Ballet at spectacles, always surrounded by her young colleagues.

Her experience as a teacher is summarized in her book "Methods in Opera Singing".

She was born in Gorna Oryahovitsa. She graduated from the Sofia Music School. Her first stage was the Burgas Amateur Opera, where she made her debut in 1960 as Olga in Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades".

A bow to her bright memory.

Sofia Opera and Ballet.

The last respects will be on Sunday at 14 h in St. Paraskeva Church, Sofia.