State Opera Plovdiv

In 1999 the State Opera of Plovdiv and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Plovdiv were united in a single society. Both of the professional institutions have over a 50-year-old history. In the summer of 2010 the society was called State Opera of Plovdiv - a state cultural institute creating and performing symphonic and chamber concerts in the field of opera, symphony and ballet. 
The Symphonic Orchestra of Plovdiv is the first state orchestra outside the capital. It is established in 1945, but its roots lie on 100-year-old tradition for orchestra music in Plovdiv – the biggest cultural center in the legendary Thracia. Nowadays over 100 high-qualified performers are included in the orchestra with a huge repertoire of symphonic and opera music. A huge number of professional performers, conductors and soloists have started their career in the Symphonic Orchestra. The orchestra itself has played in renowned concert halls all around Europe.
The Opera of Plovdiv was established in 1953 with its first spectacle –“A sold bride” by B. Smetana. In the course of time  the repertoire of the Opera was enriched with works by Cimarosa, Pergolesi, Motzart, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Masani, Leonkavalo, Saint-Saëns, Massenet, Chaikovski, Musorgski, Borodin, Rahmaninov, Stravinski, Carl Orff, Yanachek, Ravel, Briton, Menotti, Burnshtein, Gershwin, Prokofiev.
One of the most remarkable events connected with the opera are the open-air performances. This tradition started in 1965 with a few incredible concerts on the Liberators Hill. About 20 years later, with the excavations of the Ancient Theatre, the Opera was given the opportunity to perform in this magnificent atmosphere. Nowadays, the Festival of the Opera Art is annually carried out at there.
The State Opera of Plovdiv has quite a lot of performances nowadays, connected with the opera, the symphony, the musical-humoristic genre and the ballet, performed in the country and abroad. It has gained its huge prestige with a lot of successful concerts, tours and guest-performances in Europe and the USA, a significant number of records and participation in popular events in Bulgaria and abroad.