The Thracian Awards are a new initiative by the world-renowned Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva. The first award ceremony took place during a gala concert in the Roman theater of the Bulgarian city Plovdiv on June 23. The prize winners performed with the orchestra of the State Opera Plovdiv. That gala concert was also the start of the opera season Opera Open of the State Opera Plovdiv in this impressive Roman amphitheater from the first century. It will become an annual tradition, the awarding of the Thracian Awards in the Roman theater of Plovdiv.
Orpheus
Thrace, present-day southern Bulgaria, had an equally rich history in antiquity as ancient Egypt, Greece or the Roman Empire. The Greek mythical figure Orpheus, musician, poet and prophet, originates from the Rhodopes, the Thracian mountain range that separates Bulgaria from Greece. The mythical Orpheus stands for musical excellence. With Orpheus as an ideal, this initiative wants to honor both young and experienced musicians and artists. Not only Bulgarians, but many others as well.
With her initiative, Sonya Yoncheva also wants to put the city of Plovdiv and the Thracian region on the European cultural map. Plovdiv is the oldest permanently inhabited city in Europe. Six thousand years old, in the year 100 AD the Greco-Roman city Philippopolis - present-day Plovdiv - had 100,000 inhabitants. The first-century theater holds 3,000 listeners and is a magnificent testament to this and is used every summer for various concerts, from opera to jazz or rock.
Six Thracian Awards for singers and musicians
In total, eleven Thracian Awards were presented, gilded statuettes of the mythical Orpheus. First come the young talents: the Georgian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Buachidze (award for debut), the Bulgarian pianist Emanuil Ivanov (award for young musician) and prima ballerina Marta Petkova (award ballet artist). Polish countertenor Jacub Józef Orliński receives his Thracian Award as singer of the year. He captivates the audience with his high voice, his presence and charisma.
Bulgarian soprano Gabriela Georgieva is one of the leading opera voices in Bulgaria. She receives the award as singer of the year. There is also a lifetime achievement award, which goes to the 85-year-old Anna Tomova-Sintova, a living legend in the opera world. This Bulgarian soprano performed with the greatest conductors. The screen shows historical fragments in which Herbert von Karajan or Zubin Mehta speak their praise about her.
Four awards for composition, directing, opera project and best opera house
Between the soloists are also some pieces for orchestra with various choirs: the wordless choir from Puccini's Madama Butterfly and the well-known "Va pensiero" from Verdi's Nabucco. Choirs from Plovdiv are also on stage: the Plovdiv Boys' Choir and the children's choir "Detska Kitka".
There is also a Thracian Award for Composer of the Year, which goes to Bulgarian Dobrinka Tabakova. Born in Plovdiv in 1980, she moved to London as a teenager and is today a celebrated composer in the UK and far beyond. This year she won the prestigious BBC Music Magazine 2026 Award. The gala concert opened with her work Orpheus' Comet, a paraphrase on the overture to Monteverdi's Orfeo.
In addition, there is the Thracian Award for Director of the Year. That is for Bulgarian Vera Nemirova, who is particularly active in Germany, where she gained recognition with Don Carlos in Dresden or Wagner's Ring in Frankfurt. Then there is the Award for opera production of the year, for the Wagner Festival of the Opera Ballet Sofia with its founder Plamen Kartalof. The Thracian Award for best opera house goes to the Bayerische Staatsoper, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, with 600,000 visitors and 400 events per year. Besides conductor Vladimir Jurowski, the Bayerische Oper is also led by a Belgian, general director Serge Dorny.
Sonya Yoncheva
After these ten Thracian Awards, there is still one left. That is a finale. The award for soloist of the year goes to Venezuelan trumpeter Pacho Flores. The man is making a dizzying international career and also plays dizzying virtuoso trumpet in the Concierto de Otoño by Arturo Márquez.
Sonya Yoncheva, initiator of the Thracian Awards, of course sang herself this evening. She says it is one of her beloved arias: the Song to the Moon from Antonín Dvořák's Rusalka. The crescent moon also hung visibly above the Rhodopes, where the audience looks out in a southerly direction. As an encore, she sings a duet from Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea together with countertenor Orliński.
It was a memorable evening in the magical setting of this Roman theater. The arena of Verona is well-known for its opera performances. But this theater in Plovdiv has a more intimate atmosphere. Unlike the gigantic Arena di Verona, it was built for theater and music. Countertenor Jacub Orliński put it aptly: "After singing in Verona I feel coming home here in this Ancient Theater in Plovdiv". For many Flemings it remains a distant corner of Europe, but the city and region are definitely worth a visit.