Biography
Nela Stoyanova grew up in an artistic environment in a family of artists. From an early age she studied sculpture and painting.
She graduated from the Art High School of Applied Arts in Sofia in 1992.
Immediately afterwards she was accepted simultaneously ат the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Geneva with a full scholarship and to the National Academy of Art in Sofia.
She chose to study in Bulgaria. She studied classical subjects with some of the greatest names in the Academy. A student of Assoc. Prof. Maria Trendafilova, Prof. Anna Boyadzhieva and Prof. Vihroni Popnedelev. She participated in a number of general exhibitions and spatial installations.
She graduated with a Master's degree in 1998.
In 2000, after participating in an automotive design competition, she was invited to join the design team of BMW in Munich, Germany.
In 2001 she became a member of the Union of Bulgarian Artists.
From 2004 to 2018 she has been mainly involved in television, film and advertising design. She has completed numerous set design projects for television studios, advertising and other stage spaces.
She started working at Sofia Opera and Ballet in 2014.
As a part of the artistic team, she actively works with Acad. Plamen Kartaloff, Vera Petrova, Sven Jonke, Hugo de Ana, Filippo Tonon, Alexander Kostyuchenko, Ivan Savov, Leo Kulaš, Hans Kudlich, West Hyler, Whitney Locher, Jeremy Barnett, Andrea Tocchio, etc.
From 2020 to 2023 she held the position of Head of Staging and was among the main participants in the creation and organization of the summer festivals "Muses on the Water" – Lake Pancharevo, "At the Foot of Vitosha" – Boyana Cinema Center and "Portal between Two Worlds" – Tsari Mali Grad. She actively works on the organization and production of all the titles of the Wagner Festival.
In her artistic biography in the field of music and stage genres she has realized the following original stage and costume design projects:
Opera:
“Don Pasquale” – Sofia Opera and Ballet – set design and costumes
“Turandor” – Опера Парма и Varna State Opera – set design and costumes
“Rigoletto” – Varna State Opera – set design and costumes
“Nabucco” – Varna State Opera – set design
“The Queen of Spades” – Sofia Opera and Ballet – set design
“The Hermit of Rila” – Sofia Opera and Ballet – set design
Ballet:
“Midsummer Night Dream” – Sofia Opera and Ballet – set design and costumes
“Buratino” – Theatre “Sofia” – set design and costumes
Musical:
“Mamma Mia!” – Sofia Opera and Ballet – set design
“Love Never Dies” – Varna State Opera – set design and costumes
“The Four Twins” – Sofia State Music Theatre – set design and costumes
“Westside Story” – Varna State Opera and Opera Craiova – set design and costumes
“My Father the Painter” – Sofia Opera and Ballet – costumes
“Love Never Dies” – Sofia State Music Theatre – set design and costumes (the production was nominated for a Crystal Lyre for production team)
Spectacles for children:
“The Magic Forest” – Sofia Opera and Ballet – set design and costumes
“Funny Songs and The Story of Babar the Elephant” – Sofia Opera and Ballet – set design and costumes
See all
