Svetla Stanilova

I was born and raised in Asenovgrad, Bulgaria and I´ve been singing since my earliest years. I graduated the National Music School “Dobrin Petkov” and in 1980 the Plovdiv Academy of Music and Dance with “Folklore instruments and folklore singing” and “Musical pedagogy”. I also studied folklore singing in Asen Diamandiev’s class. As a singer I have a number of records in Bulgarias National Radio and Television, a solo album and several participations in other CDs of the series “Masters of the Bulgarian Folklore”.
Today I am a professor in folklore singing and conducting of folk choir at Plovdiv Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts (www.artacademyplovdiv.com). Among my students are famous Bulgarian singers, vocal pedagogues and conductors and I also have students in USA, Australia, France, Sweden, and Greece.
I have been conducting for 15 years different choirs such as the Academic Folklore Choir and the Choir of National Folklore Ensemble “Trakiya” but since 2000 up to the present I work with the chamber folklore formation “Phillipopoly”. It consists of students from the academy. Check them out among my top friends.
I´ve also done research work focused on the problems of the Bulgarian folklore singing (chorus and solo) and defended a dissertation on the subject of “The vocal performance accomplishment of the folklore singer – formation and development” in 2004. My degree is “Doctor of musicology and musical art”.
I have published three books “Life and Songs”, “For the traditional folklore singing performance” and “Clear Sunrise” and several publications in specialized editions, collections of songs and methodical handbooks.