Jordanka Milkova

Ensemble: (Former) Staatstheater Nürnberg, Theater Pforzheim, Theater Biel-Solothurn

Freelancer: Semperoper Dresden, Teatro Petruzzelli Bari, Savonlinna Opera Festival, Bühnen Bern

Jordanka Milkova is a Bulgarian-Swiss mezzo-soprano whose recent appearances include her return to the Semperoper Dresden in the 2023/24 season as the Witch in Hänsel und Gretel, following her successful house debut there as Carmen in 2022. She also made her house debut at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari in 2023, performing the role of Venus in Wagner’s Tannhäuser. That same season, she appeared at Theater Magdeburg as Fata Morgana in Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges. In summer 2024, Ms. Milkova will debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana at the Schlossoper Haldenstein in Switzerland. Further engagements for the 2024/25 season include Filipievna in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at Bühnen Bern, and performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 at the KKL Lucerne and the Tonhalle Zürich under the baton of Johannes Schläfli.

She has performed at the Savonlinna Opera Festival for three seasons, where she made her debut as Ortrud in Lohengrinwith conductor Philippe Auguin. This role later brought her to the Hong Kong Arts Festival. As Venus in Tannhäuser, she has sung at the International May Festival in Wiesbaden alongside Klaus Florian Vogt. Other recent guest engagements include roles at the Aalto Theater Essen, Théâtre National du Luxembourg, Teatro Comunale di Ferrara, Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti di Modena, and Mikhailovsky Theater St. Petersburg.

Ms. Milkova’s operatic repertoire spans dramatic and lyric mezzo-soprano roles, including Carmen, Dalila, Eboli, Amneris, Ulrica, Marfa, Klytemnestra, Jezibaba, and the Foreign Princess, as well as trouser roles such as Hansel, Nicklausse, Ascanio, the Composer, and Annio. She has also sung Fenena, Suzuki, Maddalena, Dorabella, Erda, and others. As a concert soloist, she has performed major works such as Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 2, 3, and 8, Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, and Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, among others, in venues such as Tonhalle Zürich, KKL Lucerne, Victoria Hall Geneva, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, and Tampere Hall.

A graduate of the Music Academy in Sofia, Ms. Milkova completed her studies with distinction at the Swiss Opera Studio of the University of the Arts Bern. Early engagements took her to the Theater Biel-Solothurn, Theater Pforzheim, and subsequently to the ensemble of the Staatstheater Nürnberg, where she developed an extensive repertoire. Her performance history includes appearances across Europe, including at Helsinki Music Center, Theater Basel, Theater Luzern, Theater Lübeck, Opéra-Théâtre de Metz Métropole, Oper im Steinbruch St. Margarethen, and the Murten Classics Festival.