On December 17, the 70th anniversary of Father Kiril Popov will be celebrated in the hall of the Sofia Opera House. The author of many church hymns and the musical poem “The Hermit of Rila”, dedicated to the life of the patron saint of Bulgaria, St. John of Rila, has invited choral formations that will perform his compositions created in different years. These are the Sofia Chamber Choir at the ancient church “St. Sophia” with conductor Dr. Maria Ruseva; Male Choir at the cathedral church “St. Nedelya” with conductor Prof. Protopsalt Miroslav Popsavov; Children's and Youth Choir “St. Seraphim of Sofia” with conductor Anelia Kocheva; Chamber Ensemble “St. John Kukuzel – the Angel-Voiced” with conductor Kristian Popov; Mixed choir “Ave Musica” with conductor Tanya Nikleva; Sofia Priestly Choir with conductor Stavrophorian Butler Dr. Kiril Popov; Mixed choir of the Bulgarian National Radio with conductor Lyubomira Alexandrova.

In the second part of the concert, fragments of the musical poem “The Hermit of Rila” with lyrics by Tihomir Pavlov and orchestration by Georgi Strezov will be performed. Soloists, orchestra and chorus of the Sofia Opera with conductor Zhorzh Dimitrov, chorus conductor Violeta Dimitrova and children's choir led by Dimitar Kostantsaliev will participate.

On May 10, 2023, the premiere of “The Hermit of Rila” took place, which became a hymn of praise for the work and tribute to the feat of St. John. In 2024, directed by Plamen Kartaloff, the work of Father Kiril Popov received a grandiose recreation on the square in front of the St. Alexander Nevsky Memorial Temple. This summer, thousands of spectators filled the stands for the performances included in the program of the “Opera in the Square” festival. For next summer, more performances are planned in the square, dedicated to the 1150th anniversary of the birth and 1080 years since the ascension of St. John the Wonderworker of Rila.

Archpriest Dr. Kiril Popov graduated from the Sofia Theological Seminary, and in 1981 from the Theological Academy. In 1982, by decision of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, he was sent as a graduate student to the Moscow Theological Academy, where he specialized in choral conducting, individually studied harmony and composition with the distinguished Russian composer, musicologist and pedagogue Vladimir Martynov and defended his candidate (doctoral) dissertation on the topic “Development of the octave in the Russian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches”. He graduated from the conducting class with the award “Golden Tuning Fork”.

After returning to Bulgaria, he taught Eastern church singing and choral singing at the Sofia Theological Seminary, conducted the choir at the Cathedral Church “St. Nedelya” – Sofia, and worked as a research associate at the Church History and Archives Institute of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. He completed postgraduate training in choral conducting at the National Academy of Music “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” – Sofia in the conducting class of Prof. Vasil Arnaudov. Since 17.03.1986, he has been the conductor of the Sofia Priestly Choir. In the summer of 2000, he accepted the priesthood. Since 01.11.2013, he has been a parish priest at the Metropolitan Cathedral Church “St. Nedelya” in Sofia.

Father Kiril Popov is a holder of the Order of the Russian Orthodox Church “Venerable Sergius of Radonezh” - third degree (2014) and the Orders of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church “St. Clement of Ohrid” – first degree (2016) and “St. John the Kukuzel” (2023).