Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Lea Ivanova’s 100th birth anniversary

Photo: Youtube / PICTOMASTER music box

On August 13, music fans in Bulgaria mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lea Ivanova - one of the first female jazz performers in Bulgaria. She was born in 1923 in Dupnitsa but grew up in Tsarigrad (Istanbul), where her singing talent manifested itself in the children's choir of the Bulgarian Exarchate. She arrived in Sofia in the 1940s, when she joined various jazz and swing formations. 

Repressed by the communist regime because of the so called "decadent Western music" she performed, the singer was more appreciated abroad, where she managed to perform actively in the 1960s - in Romania, Hungary, then Yugoslavia and East Germany, and later - in the USA, Canada, South America, etc. 

With her charismatic personality and captivating stage presence, Lea Ivanova remains one of the biggest legends of Bulgarian music.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Charles Gounod's masterpiece Faust premieres in Varna

Bulgarian Vera Nemirova – one of the brightest names in contemporary opera directing in Europe – has long lived and worked in Germany.  For several years now, she has been a regular guest at the State Opera-Varna, and she recently began..

published on 5/26/25 6:05 AM

The anthem of Bulgarian enlightenment

The first Bulgarian hymns in honor of education and science were written in the town of Elena, located in the Balkan Mountains. Elena was a well-known commercial and cultural center during the 18th and 19th centuries, and its residents actively..

published on 5/24/25 6:05 AM

Break the bubble: “Nali” is a track about tuning into life

After a break due to changes in the line-up, the band Nana & Th e Gang is back with a new track . Vladi Zidarov (drums, mixing and mastering), Miro Gaidarski (bass) and Iliana Yordanova (vocals) present Nali  — a song with a motivational..

published on 5/22/25 2:09 PM