Jordanka Milkova

Bulgarian-Swiss mezzo-soprano Jordanka Milkova’s recent appearances include Azucena in Il trovatore in Gießen, Filipievna in Eugene Onegin at Bühnen Bern and Fata Morgana in The Love for Three Oranges at Staatstheater Cottbus. In 2027, she is scheduled to sing Offred’s Mother in Poul Ruders’s The Handmaid’s Tale at Finnish National Opera.

Ms. Milkova made her Semperoper Dresden debut as Carmen in 2022 and returned as the Witch in Hänsel und Gretel in 2023/24. In 2023, she made her house debut at Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari as Venus in Wagner’s Tannhäuser. Other recent engagements include Fata Morgana in Magdeburg, Ježibaba in Rusalka in Heidelberg and Regensburg, and Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana at the 2024 opera gala at Schloss Haldenstein.

In three seasons at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, Ms. Milkova sang Ortrud in Lohengrin under Philippe Auguin as well as Suzuki and Maddalena. Ortrud subsequently brought her to the Hong Kong Arts Festival. As Venus, she sang at the Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden alongside Klaus Florian Vogt. She has appeared at the Aalto Theater Essen, Théâtre National du Luxembourg, Teatro Comunale di Ferrara, Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti di Modena and Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.

Her repertoire balances dramatic roles such as Dalila, Eboli, Amneris and Klytemnestra with lyric parts and trouser roles, including Hänsel, Nicklausse and the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos.

In concert, Ms. Milkova has sung Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Mahler’s Second, Third and Eighth Symphonies, Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs and Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder. In spring 2025, she sang Mahler’s Second Symphony at Tonhalle Zürich and KKL Luzern with the Alumni Sinfonieorchester Zürich under Johannes Schlaefli. She has also sung at Victoria Hall Geneva, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Tampere Hall, Helsinki Music Centre and Murten Classics.

After graduating in Sofia, Ms. Milkova studied with Jane Thorner-Mengedoht in Bern, earning her concert diploma in 1999 and her opera diploma with distinction at the Swiss Opera Studio in 2001. Early engagements in Biel-Solothurn and Pforzheim preceded her ensemble membership at Staatstheater Nürnberg.