Gala concert of the participants in the course – on 2 November on the stage of the Chamber Hall of the Sofia Opera

From 23 October to 2 November, the great opera singer Vesselina Kasarova held for the first time a Master class for young opera singers at the Sofia Opera. During two weeks Vesselina Kasarova worked intensively with the young graduate students on vocal technique, style and interpretation of the role. The musical accompaniment was entrusted to the renowned pianist-co-repetiteur Vyara Schuperlieva, who for 12 years has been the leading accompanist at the prestigious Mozarteum Music Academy in Salzburg, Austria. Vesselina Kasarova's long-time musical consultant, the baritone Nikolay Handzhiev, worked in parallel with the young singers. The interest in Vesselina Kasarova's Master class was extremely high. Active participants were young opera singers from Bulgaria, Turkey, Germany, France, Portugal.

The master class will end tonight, 2 November, at 19.00 h with a gala concert of the participants in the course on the stage of the Chamber Hall of the Sofia Opera. In the programme of the concert the audience will hear arias from operas by Gluck, Mozart, Donizetti, Bellini, Gounod, Catalani, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Cilea, Lehar and others. Piano accompanist Vyara Shuperlieva.

Vesselina Kasarova has often been invited in recent years to conduct master classes for young opera singers in various European countries. The world-renowned singer also participates in the juries of prestigious international vocal competitions. More and more young opera singers turn to her for advice and help. The world-renowned mezzo-soprano held her first masterclass in Basel, Switzerland in 2011. Seven years later, in August 2018, Vesselina Kasarova realized her dream to give a masterclass in her motherland – in her home town Stara Zagora.

This year Vesselina Kasarova celebrated 35 years of artistic activity with an exciting concert on the stage of the Sofia Opera and for the first time she gave a Master class in Sofia. The interest in working with the Maestra was very big and she was happy that apart from participants from different countries, young opera singers from Bulgaria predominated. Because her deepest wish is to help Bulgarian talents. Some of the young singers meet her not for the first time and are determined to follow her invariably. Vesselina Kasarova chooses to work with young singers who have reached different levels in their professional development – from those who are just starting out (the youngest participant in this year's course is only 19 years old) to impressive accomplished opera singers.

She has the energy, wisdom and experience to steer the young talent in the right direction and lay the foundations on which to confidently build their vocal development. And she does it with pleasure. In her profession Vesselina Kasarova has her amazing achievements not by chance.

Her unquestionable talent accompanied by exceptional professionalism, responsibility, musicality, acting presence and personal magnetism have brought her to the top of the world opera art. She has never chosen the easy path, and this can be seen in the long list of roles she has performed on stage, from her enviable discography of mostly rarely or for the first time, even only once performed titles.

Vesselina Kasarova seems to have been ahead of our operatic times, bringing a modern aesthetic to her unique and recognizable interpretation. Vesselina Kasarova teaches her young followers to take their time or to take it slowly! Because now the opera world is different. Managers create one-day stars and don't think about their long-term careers. Young people today don't have her luck – she was looked after by great personalities who saw her career in 20 years.

As a vocal pedagogue, the great opera diva spares no effort – she talks, shows, explains, sings. She rejoices at the result quickly achieved and patiently waits for the young talent to trust her. She strives to be frank and never stops searching for the right individual approach to each one.

At the end of every busy day Vesselina Kasarova finds it hard to free herself from her thoughts, from the obsessive desire to give as much useful advice to the young artists as possible during the master class. From the very first day of the course. she has been thinking about the choice of arias they will perform at the concert. To make them shine and feel satisfied and happy. Like her dedicated Maestra...

Good luck!