Dr. Valentina Georgieva
Conductor · 2026 – present
Conductor
Conductor of the Morski Zvutsi Choir
Dr. Valentina
Georgieva
Conductor · Educator · PhD in Musicology
For almost three decades she has made choral singing on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast something visible far beyond our borders. Today she stands in front of the Morski Zvutsi Choir, continuing a path begun by Prof. Marin Chonev.
Portrait
A conductor who builds communities
Dr. Valentina Georgieva is a choral conductor, music educator and organiser. Born in Haskovo, she graduated in Music Pedagogy from the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts "Prof. Asen Diamandiev" in Plovdiv, specialised in choral conducting at the National Academy of Music "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov", and earned her doctorate at New Bulgarian University.
At twenty-eight, life brought her to the seaside town of Balchik. What began there has grown into nearly thirty years of work whose mark reaches well beyond the town.
With her, singing is not only what happens on stage. It is a way for people to stay together.
Balchik, since 1998
The Chernomorski Zvutsi Mixed Choir
Since 1998 Valentina Georgieva has conducted the mixed choir Chernomorski Zvutsi ("Black Sea Sounds") in Balchik. The year 2026 marks twenty-eight seasons of that partnership.
With this choir she takes part every year in dozens of competitions and festivals, winning prizes in Spain, Greece, North Macedonia, Germany, Italy, Serbia, Croatia, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Romania, as well as in Asia.
Alongside her work with adult ensembles she has founded children's formations known for the ease of their performances and their stage presence.
The festival
The Chernomorski Zvutsi International Choral Festival
Valentina Georgieva is the founder and artistic director of the international choral festival Chernomorski Zvutsi, held in Balchik every year at the beginning of June.
Across thirteen editions the festival has given a stage to more than 250 choirs from Europe and beyond. She also chairs the association Musical World - Balchik, through which the greater part of all these projects has been carried out.
The research
The doctoral work
In 2013 Valentina Georgieva defended her doctorate at New Bulgarian University with a dissertation on the songs for homogeneous folk ensembles by Stefan Dragostinov, recreated for mixed choir, supervised by Prof. Elisaveta Valchinova-Chendova, DSc.
The subject came directly out of her practice. It grew from four years of collaboration between the Chernomorski Zvutsi choir and the composer Stefan Dragostinov himself. The study examines the performing and conducting problems of interpreting folk-based choral works: how the authentic sound of homogeneous folk ensembles can be recreated for a mixed choir without losing its character.
The results were published as a separate volume that combines the scholarly analysis with practical experience from the rehearsal room.
Beyond the choir
Teacher, mentor, juror
Valentina Georgieva takes an active part in international choral conducting courses and sits on the juries of national and international festivals.
She is also a mentor at the Choral Academy of the Sofia Art Institute, a programme for people with no professional ambitions who simply want the pleasure of singing. That approach, art in a supportive setting and without pressure to be perfect, is recognisable in her work with every ensemble she leads.
For her public work she has been named Public Figure of the Year three years running.
Recognition
Honours
- 2005 · The Golden Lyre of the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers, for outstanding artistic achievement
- 2024 · Named Face of Balchik by the town's residents and the Municipality of Balchik
- Public Figure of the Year, three years running
- Prizes with the Chernomorski Zvutsi choir from competitions in Spain, Greece, North Macedonia, Germany, Italy, Serbia, Croatia, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Romania and Asia
In front of Morski Zvutsi
Since January 2026 Dr. Valentina Georgieva has stood in front of the Morski Zvutsi Choir, taking on an ensemble with almost seventy years of history behind it.
She works with us tirelessly and with attention to every voice. She demands, but she does not intimidate. She holds the line on detail and discipline while giving the rehearsal back the thing that brings people in voluntarily, week after week: the pleasure of sounding together.
For us this is a new beginning on old foundations.
Chronology
The path
Born and raised. Graduates in Music Pedagogy from the Academy "Prof. Asen Diamandiev", Plovdiv.
Specialises in choral conducting at the National Academy of Music "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov".
Becomes conductor of the Chernomorski Zvutsi mixed choir in Balchik.
The choir takes on the organisation of the international choral festival of the same name.
Awarded the Golden Lyre of the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers.
Defends her doctorate at New Bulgarian University.
Named Face of Balchik.
Takes over the Morski Zvutsi choir in Varna in January. Her twenty-eighth season with Chernomorski Zvutsi.
Sources
- Choral Academy, mentors and conductors, Sofia Art Institute
- Valentina Georgieva, Martine Publishing, Dobrich
- Dissertation abstract, New Bulgarian University
- Chernomorski Zvutsi International Choral Festival
Back