B i o g r a p h y
Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Svetlina Stoyanova is a highly acclaimed mezzo-soprano with a rapidly rising career in the opera world. After initially studying Psychology at Glasgow University, she was offered a place in the vocal department at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she completed both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees under the guidance of tutor Clare Shearer.
During her studies, Svetlina won the prestigious Neue Stimmen Competition in 2017, which led to her international debut as Cherubino, Le Nozze di Figaro in Opéra Nice Côte d'Azur shortly after. Following this success, she performed the role of Rosina, Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Bregenzer Festspiele.
Svetlina has since gone on to perform at some of the most renowned opera houses in the world, including the Vienna State Opera, where she was part of the ensemble of soloists for two seasons from 2018 performing roles such as Rosina, Cherubino, Dryade (Ariadne auf Naxos), Roßweiße (Die Walküre), Lola (Cavalleria Rusticana), among others. She toured with the Vienna State Opera in Elbphilharmonie Hamburg singing Cherubino and Tonnhalle Düsseldorf with the role of Zerlina, Don Giovanni, under the direction of M° Adam Fischer. She also made her debut as Isabella in "Italiana in Algeri" on a tour around France with Ensemble Matheus, conducted by M° Jean-Christophe Spinosi.
In 2020/2021, Svetlina made her Italian debut as Cenerentola at the New Generation Festival in Florence, followed by a concert performance of Messa di Milano at the Rossini Opera Festival. She also made her debut at the Bolshoi Theatre as Rosina and as Cenerentola at the Sofia Opera.
Ms. Stoyanova has been a frequent guest at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, having made her debut in Le Nozze di Figaro, followed by Leo Muskato’s new production of Il barbiere di Siviglia under the baton of M° Riccardo Chailly. She has also appeared in La Calisto, Ariadne auf Naxos, Adriana Lecouvreur, and is set to return as Cherubino in 2023.
After making her house debut, Svetlina made her debut in Zurich Opera House as Lola, Cavalleria Rusticana and will return in the new season UK professional operatic debut at the Glyndebourne Festival, performing as Ruggiero in Handel's Alcina under the direction of M° Jonathan Cohen.
During the 2022/2023 season, Ms. Stoyanova had several debuts. She first appeared as Cenerentola at the Latvian National Opera, followed by a concert performance of Die Schone Galathee for Bayerischer Rundfunk with an orchestra under the direction of M° Ivan Repušić. She also made her debut as Cherubino at the Hamburg Staatsoper and performed Mascagni's L'amico Fritz at Concertgebouw in Amsterdam under the direction of M° Andrea Battistoni.
In addition to Opera, Ms Stoyanova is an experienced recitalist and has performed at the Musikverein, Vienna with pianist Stephen Hopkins; the Wigmore Hall, London and at the International Festival Sofia Music Weeks. She has sung in Matinées and concert performances for the Vienna State Opera. Svetlina Stoyanova has also performed in the Live Music Now series at Usher Hall, Edinburgh and for the Edinburgh Festival.
Her repertoire includes Angel in Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, which she has performed with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera and Mahler’s Symphony No.4 with the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Svetlina was honoured to sing Dvořák’s Mass in D Major in the opening ceremony of the 2018 Bregenz Festival.
Svetlina Stoyanova was distinguished in Forbes Bulgaria in the ranking "30 under 30" for the year 2019 and in 2020 she received the prestigious "Certificate for contributing towards the popularization of Bulgarian culture around the world" from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria.
Mrs Stoyanova's awards also include the 2019 Daniel Froschauer Award and The Silver Medal (Musician’s Company Award). She is a former Samling Artist, and was an 2017/2018 Independent Opera Scholar and Fellow.