Wherever you are, to be successful you will have to work hard

Introduce yourself in a few words...

Gergana Nikolaeva is an exceptionally brave and unconventional opera singer. She is a mezzo-soprano, but loves to sing male arias and songs.

She is the creator of the original project “Anyone Can Sing…”, which has become a motto of her life. She is positive, and her smile is contagious.

Gergana has duets with the most beautiful voices in Bulgarian pop music – Orlin Goranov, Silvia Katzarova, Ditcho, Toni, Leo, and Kamen Vodenicharov. She is the lady who met Pop music and Classical music for the first time in Bulgaria more than 10 years ago.

She is part of the team of the Stara Zagora Opera with her role as Fleur de Lis, partnering with Mihaela Fileva in “Esmeralda – The Parisian Holy Virgin Mary”.

Gergana Nikolaeva is a speaker at the American platform TEDTalks, where in 15 minutes she managed to make 400 people sing and cry with emotions during her lecture “Anyone Can Sing…”.

Gergana Nikolaeva is a finalist of the baroque competition “Ritorna Vincitor” in Ercolano, Italy.

For her, art is a universe without boundaries.

She writes poetry. Her first book is “I Woke Up and It Was Tomorrow…” with editor the great Bulgarian poetess Margarita Petkova. Gergana shares with a smile:
“I love to write. For me, every word has immense weight. And arranged in sentences, we have the privilege to convey messages deep from the soul. And when a beautiful melody is added to some text, it becomes even more impactful. My second book is on the way. I already have a title, so expect it soon.”

She is a scriptwriter for numerous events, concerts, competitions, and awards, among which are the cultural awards “Golden Pen”.

What does traveling the world mean to you?

For me, traveling is mostly a pleasure and an opportunity to discover new cultures, which definitely inspires me and sharpens my senses. I have places where I am in love and can return often.

How many different countries have you seen so far? Share an interesting story or highlights from your travels.

Since childhood, I have had the opportunity to travel a lot. I have never kept statistics on the number of countries I have visited. There are many! My mother was a representative for Bulgaria at Mannesmann Handel – part of the large Mannesmann conglomerate. And every year, the whole family traveled quite a bit.

I have one very funny memory. One summer we were in St. Constantine and Elena (then Druzhba). The weather was bad, not suitable for the beach, and we decided to take a walk in Varna. It started to rain, and to avoid getting wet, my mother saw a travel agency and we went in. After half an hour, we had already chosen the destination and the next day we left for Cairo for two nights. It was magical – so unforgettable and surprising! After two days, we returned to Varna and finished our seaside vacation.

As for how many – I have an interesting number of cities I visited within two and a half months. I was 17 years old and sang in the Children’s Choir of BNR. It was 1995, and we were on a long tour, during which we had 50 concerts. We traveled 25,000 km by bus, the visited cities were over 160, in 20 states. A big journey! We started from Chicago and zigzagged across half of America – west, north, and south. It was very exhausting, but also the most extensive journey where I managed to see every landmark along the way.

My memories from Mount Rushmore, where the four presidents are, Palo Duro Canyon, Yosemite Park are unforgettable. In New Orleans, we walked along the famous street Bourbon Street and took a picture in front of the first nightclub where Louis Armstrong played. It was very exciting in the west – we descended along the coast. We sang in all the familiar cities – Santa Rosa, Sacramento, San Francisco, and we left from Los Angeles. At the end of the tour, BNT joined us and made a wonderful film, in which they managed to capture how strong an emotion we left behind. The halls were packed with Americans, enchanted by our creativity. They cried! Especially after we sang their anthem. Strong memories that I am sure have greatly influenced my development as a creator and person.

Do you like to revisit destinations? Give examples and motivation “for” or “against”?

Recently, I love to return to some cities – exactly where I felt cozy. Within a year, I repeated Prague. I am in love with this city! Prague is one of the few large cities in Europe whose historical architecture remains almost intact after World War II. Walking through its streets, I feel the living spirit of the centuries – Gothic, Baroque, Renaissance, and Art Nouveau intertwine harmoniously, without a trace of destruction.

The charming stone streets, ancient squares, romantic bridges like Charles Bridge – every step is like a reference in time. Prague is home to some of the most beautiful concert halls in Europe. I had the pleasure of enjoying one of their most famous festivals – Dvořák Prague, and attending several concerts at Rudolfinum – an exquisite concert hall that is a temple of music and culture in Prague. And listening to their philharmonic is like touching perfection.

What was your first trip that truly changed you as a professional and can be said to have changed your thinking?

In my life, I have two very fateful trips.

One was in 2009. I had given up singing. A friend invited me to go with her to a competition in Italy. It didn’t take much to convince me. I packed my bags, prepared three arias in two weeks, and we set off. This was the turning point in my life. I realized that if you are given a talent – you cannot voluntarily give it up. There I became a finalist in the baroque competition “Ritorna Vincitor” in Ercolano, Italy. This really brought me back to music sharply.

And the second trip, which turned out to be a realized dream – it aimed to “reset my clock” and show me that what I do is highly valued abroad as well. I had just met Pop music and Classical music, and with this classical program, but with a modern twist, I was invited to celebrate one of the world banks that had gathered its directors from all over Europe and Russia. Their meeting was in an unforgettable place – they had rented the Ajuda Palace Museum in Lisbon. This was one of those moments in life when you see in foreign eyes immense admiration and happiness from the musical moment. I returned satisfied and even more inspired.

Have you met people or ideas during your travels that have influenced your career path?

I meet a lot of people. Through the project “Anyone Can Sing…”, I also work with many foreigners. This definitely influences my inspiration and thus more interesting ideas are born. Traveling and studying other cultures provoke my thinking for more interesting and multi-layered representations of art.

Do you think your travels help you expand your professional network? How?

Meeting new people while traveling is a wonderful opportunity to expand activities.

Music has the power to unite. And just as there are no boundaries in art for me, there are also no boundaries between countries. This year I will delight the audience in neighboring Greece.

How do you manage the balance between work and pleasure when you travel?

Balance is very important. In my profession, there is a lot of workload. The stage requires full concentration, physical and mental preparation, and endurance. And because of this, it is very important to have adequate rest. The brain needs to disconnect from professional commitments to gather strength for the next load. So everything must be in balance – there should be enough sleep, quality food, and good energy and fun!

Do you think it is better to spend on experiences rather than material possessions?

It depends on the needs. Personally, for me, it is clear – life is beautiful when you create quality memories. For me, it is much more valuable and necessary to collect emotions and spiritual sensations than to accumulate money and things.

How do you see the future of digital nomadic life?

I like it! It is wonderful to have the opportunity to combine your work with visiting different places around the world. But the most important thing is for the world to live in peace.

What is the career advice you would give based on what you have seen around the world?

I believe that Bulgaria is an extremely beautiful place for living and career development. Wherever you are – to be successful, you will have to work hard. The saying “A stone weighs in its place” is very true for me. So I would advise especially the young not to neglect their roots, because those who have no past have no future!