On 27 February the spectacles of the opera “Il trovatore” by Giuseppe Verdi is dedicated to the anniversary of the mezzo-soprano Ivanka Ninova, who will perform the role of Azucena. Ninova is celebrating her 60th anniversary and 30 years active artistic activity on the stage of the Sofia Opera and Ballet.
Ivanka Ninova graduated from the State Academy of Music in Sofia in the class of Prof. Lilia Stefanova.
Her professional debut she made on the stage of the Sofia Opera in the role of Princess Eboli in “Don Carlo” with great success. Immediately after this appearance she was appointed for soloist. She performs the roles of Preziosilla, Carmen, Amneris, Azucena, Fenena, Federica from “Luisa Miller”, Princess de Bouillon from “Adriana Lecouvreur”, Suzuki from “Madama Butterfly”, Marcellina and Cherubino from “Le nozze di Figaro” by Mozart, The Cuman Zoya from “Tsar Kaloyan” by Pancho Vladigerov and many others.
Ninova has a rich cantata and oratorio repertoire. She took part in the first performances for Bulgaria of Dvořák’s “Requiem”, Britten’s “Spring Symphony”, “Songs” by Ikuma Dan, Tapkov’s Symphony No. 2.
She has been often guest at the opera theatres in Bulgaria, as well as of the Sofia Philharmonic, the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio, the Philharmonics of Ruse, Plovdiv, Pleven, Vratsa, Vidin, Stara Zagora. She was guest-performer with great success abroad. She has sung on prestigious stages in Romania, Ukraine, Switzerland, Germany, Canada.
Ivanka Ninova was guest-performer at Bulgarian and international musical festivals, among which “Laureate Days Katya Popova”, “March Music Days”, “Sofia Music Weeks”, “April Spring” – Pyongyang, “Maria Bieșu” – Chișinău.
Parallel to her performer’s activity, she deals actively with pedagogical activity. Since 1992, she has been teaching Classical singing at the Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music as assistant of Prof. Lilia Stefanova, and a year later, she was already leading her own class. Since 2000, she has been Honorary Professor, and since 2019 – Professor.