Bozhidar Bozhkilov was born in 1993 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He began his musical education at an early age with piano and solfeggio lessons. At the age of fifteen, he entered the National School of Music “Lyubomir Pipkov,” where he graduated in Classical Singing in the class of the renowned Bulgarian baritone Stoyan Popov. He later completed a Master’s degree in the same field at the National Academy of Music “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov,” studying with Prof. Niko Isakov. Alongside his musical studies, Bozhidar earned a degree in Law from the New Bulgarian University in 2016.
He has participated in training programs at the International Opera Academy in Sulmona (Italy), the “Boris Christoff” Academy in Rome, the International Summer Academy of the Aix-en-Provence Festival, as well as in numerous masterclasses and private coaching sessions with Stoyan Popov, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Bruna Baglioni, Montserrat Caballé, Bonaldo Giaiotti, Larisa Gergieva, Carlo Colombara, Luciana D’Intino, Maestro Mihail Angelov, among others. In 2021, he completed a two-year specialization at the prestigious Academy of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. In 2022, he took part in the annual masterclass of Raina Kabaivanska in Sofia, organized by the New Bulgarian University, where he won a scholarship for one year of study with her at the Vecchi-Tonelli Institute in Modena, Italy.
At the age of nineteen, following successful appearances in international opera competitions in Italy, he made his operatic debut in a series of performances of Il barbiere di Siviglia, Madama Butterfly, and La traviata in Italian productions presented across the Abruzzo and Tuscany regions. Over the next eleven years, he performed more than 25 roles in operas by Verdi, Mozart, Paisiello, Pergolesi, Puccini, Rossini, Tchaikovsky, and others, and appeared in numerous gala concerts on prestigious stages in Bulgaria, Austria, Albania, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Serbia, France, Montenegro, North Korea, and other countries. He has sung on renowned stages such as Auditorio de Zaragoza – Sala Mozart, Teatro Filarmonico (Verona), Mariinsky Concert Hall, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Regio Torino, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Goldoni (Livorno), Auditorio Alfredo Kraus (Las Palmas), Opéra Bastille, Royal Opera House – Muscat, and Bulgaria Hall in Sofia, among others.
In 2020, after a national selection process, Bozhidar Bozhkilov was chosen by world-famous soprano Sonya Yoncheva to be presented to Bulgarian audiences and to perform alongside her in the gala concert “Return” at the Ancient Theatre in Plovdiv. In 2024, he again shared the stage with her, performing as Colline in Puccini’s La Bohème at the Sofia Opera and Ballet, and as Angelotti in Tosca at the Ancient Theatre in Plovdiv.
Bozhidar Bozhkilov is a laureate and prizewinner of more than twenty prestigious international vocal competitions held in Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Romania, Russia, and Croatia. He has been awarded the honorary Gold Medal “100 Years Boris Christoff” by the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture. He is also the recipient of the First National “Pancho Vladigerov” Award in the “Classical Singing” category for students distinguished in the field of music. Twice nominated in the “Young Musician of the Year” awards by the Bulgarian National Radio’s Allegro Vivace program (in 2020 and 2023), he was also included in Darik Radio’s annual ranking “40 Under 40” in 2024.
He is currently a full-time soloist with the State Opera – Plovdiv.
