I am the biggest gift to my father, with whom we share the same birthday

Today, August 10, 2025, celebrates a birthday:

Gergana Nikolaeva – mezzo-soprano, who loves to break the boundaries between classical and contemporary styles. From the opera stage to musicals and pop music – I combine different worlds into one. And with my original format “Anyone Can Sing” I inspire others to discover their own voices and talents, to awaken feelings and joy that they have lost along the way. “Anyone Can Sing” has become my motto, and the participants - dear friends, for whom life becomes a song!

I am multi-layered, because I believe that true strength lies in diversity.

How do you feel on your birthday and what do you associate with the beginning of this new personal year for you?

This is a very special day for me, because I have the immense happiness to share it with my father. I was born as a gift on his birthday. 

And the truth is, we resemble each other a lot, and we love each other very much. He is the most unique father in the world! Wise, delicate, a true gentleman. He is a person I often emulate. 

And so celebrating together is not just a tradition, but a true ritual of closeness and gratitude.

We are always by the sea in our favorite village in Strandzha - Fazanovo, where relatives and friends arrive from all over the world. I love that feeling of lightness, of sharing, which is like a trademark of every single birthday we have, lasting until dawn.

And yet… every birthday is also slightly melancholic. As a representative of the Leo zodiac, I dramatize quite a bit and always shed a tear or two. But I take this as a farewell to the past year, with the lessons and smiles I have experienced. But the truth is, I am a great optimist and my focus is always on what lies ahead, because I believe it will be even better.

Which moment from the past year would you define as the most meaningful or transformative in a personal and/or professional sense?

Besides my active singing career, this is the first year in which the planned seasons of the format “Anyone Can Sing…” are 4. This is quite a lot of work and a big challenge for me. To date, this year 20 people have gone through my training, and by the end of the year, I am set to work with another 30 non-professionals. I give a lot of myself, I pay attention to details and seek approaches to ensure that everyone who comes to me leaves with inspiration and a smile. The truth is that art is great and unites us, makes us better and more meaningful.

This year I again had a strong focus on the “Golden Feather” awards organized by Cantus Firmus, for which I am the scriptwriter for the third consecutive year. The attention was entirely on the children. Simeon Ivanov and I partner with the little hosts - Yoana Ivanova and Petar Miloshev - children of the holders of the honorary sign “Golden Feather” - Svetoslav Ivanov and Evtim Miloshev. We all reminded that “Children - they step in our footsteps.” I am satisfied. 

What career goals do you set for your new life year?

My main goal is not to stop singing with all my heart. This year is special for me. It is quite turbulent. At times tense. But this forces me to seek and think more often about the balance without which we cannot live, about the inner strength and intuition that I trust more and more. 

Life is colorful and often does not happen in the easiest way, but… The brave win. Those who have a goal win. And when the goal is virtues, love, and art - everything is fine.

What do you wish for yourself and what would you like to inspire in others through your personal example?

I wish the readers of this wonderful site to draw from the inspiration of the hundreds of professionals with the widest possible hands, as well as to be very healthy and in love! To always be true and faithful. 

And to be close to art in all its dimensions around the clock!