Composer Kiril Popov’s 70th anniversary will be celebrated with an author’s gala concert at the Sofia Opera and Ballet. Several choir formations will take part in the event, including the BNR mixed choir, and will perform the church chants created by father Kiril throughout the years. A musician, pedagogue, conductor, composer and priest: this is how one can describe father Kiril’s person whom we can still see during the liturgies at the “Sveta Nedelya” Sofia cathedral church.
He shares that his path towards faith and music was shaped by his family environment. He grew up in a family of a priest and got involved with music from a very early age.
“Ever since I was young, I was raised in a religious and moral way thanks to my dear parents, God bless their souls. My parents noticed I had a gift for music and I remembered I started going to a children’s music school. I played the accordion. Of course, it was quite intriguing to me and I gladly learned to play this instrument. Eventually, God led my path to the Sofia theological seminary.”
Popov continued his music education at the Sofia theological seminary. There, he made attempts to compose classical music but eventually found that he would continue his artistic work in the field of church music. Throughout the years, father Kiril Popov has made many recordings together with a series of choir ensembles; he has held concerts in Bulgaria and abroad but one of the strongest moments in his career is the musical poem “The Hermit of Rila” with story by Tihomir Pavlov and orchestration by Georgi Strezov which premiered in May, 2023.
The priest composer doesn’t hide his joy of his piece being loved and enjoying an interest by the audience. Father Kiril Popov thinks this is due to the fact his piece is dedicated to St. Ivan Rilski: the heavenly patron of the Bulgarian people. Fragments of the piece dedicated to the life and deeds of St. Ivan Rilski: the heavenly patron of the Bulgarian people, will be performed during the anniversary concert on the 17th of December at the Sofia Opera and Ballet; an event which father Kiril Popov is excited about as he will meet his audience just days before the great holiday of Christmas.
You can hear the entire interview with father Kiril by opening the sound file: