Steliyana Dimitrova-Hernani
Steliyana Dimitrova-Hernani, choirmaster
Steliyana Dimitrova-Hernani was born in Plovdiv into a family of musicians. Remarkable is the heritage and creative continuity in the professional development of the choir conductor from Ruse. In 1994, she graduated from the Music School in Ruse with a specialization in oboe, and in 1999 she earned degrees in music pedagogy and piano from the Academy of Music and Dance Art in Plovdiv, studying under Prof. Georgi Kanev. In 1997, Steliyana joined the "Danube Sounds" choir as a chorister, and a year later, in 1998, she became a member of the choir of the Ruse Opera. Dimitrova is a protégé and follower of the renowned Bulgarian conductor Mihail Angelov.
Since 2011, Steliyana Dimitrova-Hernani has been the conductor of the "Danube Sounds" choir, and since 2012, she has been the conductor of the opera choir of the State Opera – Ruse. In 2013, she obtained a Master’s degree in choral conducting from the New Bulgarian University under the supervision of the honorary professor Teodora Pavlovich.
The repertoire of the choir master of the Ruse Opera over her ten creative seasons at one of the most active Bulgarian opera theaters is exceptionally rich and continuously expanding. Among the premiere productions she has prepared are the operas Falstaff (March Music Days Festival 2013), The Tales of Hoffmann (March Music Days Festival 2014), Katerina Izmailova (March Music Days Festival 2015), The Knight of the Rose (March Music Days Festival 2017), Macbeth (March Music Days Festival 2018 and Hunedoara Lyric Festival – Romania 2018), Il Trovatore (Hunedoara Lyric Festival – Romania 2018), The Flying Dutchman (2014), Maria Desislava (2012, 2017) (performed by both the "Danube Sounds" choir and the Ruse Opera Choir), Fidelio ("Danube Sounds" choir), Hymn of the Nations by Verdi, Ernani with conductor José Cura (March Music Days Festival 2022), Leto 893 by Parashkev Hadzhiev (March Music Days Festival 2023), and the oratorios Supplication by Nayden Andreev, performed at Bulgaria Hall in Sofia in honor of the enthronement of Bulgarian Patriarch Neofit, and The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins, performed at the March Music Days Festival in Ruse and the European Music Festival at Bulgaria Hall in Sofia, as well as Requiem by Gabriel Fauré ("Danube Sounds" choir) in Ruse at the end of 2019.
Steliyana Dimitrova-Hernani’s repertoire also includes operas with remarkable choral participation such as Don Carlos, Aida, Nabucco, Otello, Rigoletto, La Traviata, Un Ballo in Maschera, Simon Boccanegra, Falstaff, Norma, Carmen, Les pêcheurs de perles, Tosca, Turandot, Madama Butterfly, La Bohème, Suor Angelica, La rondine, Cavalleria rusticana, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, The Barber of Seville, Lucia di Lammermoor; the oratorios Carmina Burana, Stabat Mater by Rossini and Pergolesi, the cantata Alexander Nevsky by Prokofiev; the requiems by Verdi, Mozart, Fauré, and Rutter; the operettas The Csárdás Princess, The Merry Widow, Die Fledermaus, Gräfin Mariza, as well as other operatic and operetta works with smaller choral roles.
Most of these works have been performed not only on the Ruse stage but also in Sofia, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Sevlievo, Troyan, Gabrovo, and other cities across the country, as well as at festivals in Solothurn – Switzerland, Oderzo – Italy, France, and the International Festival for Opera and Classical Music “Hunedoara Lyric” – Romania (2018).
In 2023, the choir of the State Opera – Ruse was awarded the “Crystal Lyre” in the category "Choral Art" for the Easter concert on April 13 featuring Antonín Dvořák’s Requiem conducted by Emil Tabakov. That same year, on May 24, Steliyana Dimitrova-Hernani was honored with the “Ruse Award” in the category “Performing Arts” for her high professionalism and inspired work as conductor of the choir of the State Opera – Ruse and the mixed choir "Danube Sounds."
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