Vesselina Kasarova was born in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria and began playing the piano at the age of four. Today, she is a Swiss citizen and lives near Zurich.

At the age of four, Kasarova had already had her first piano lessons at the “Pionerski Dom” music school, and at 14, she attended the “Christina Morfowa” school with a musical curriculum. She took her first voice lessons in 1984, in the same year she earned a diploma for her piano studies. Thereafter, she continued her training at the academy of music in Sofia and studied voice with Ressa Kolewa. While still a student, she gave her first performances at the national opera in Sofia in the role of Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Gioacchino Rossini, a role which would later became her trademark. She completed her voice studies in 1989 and was engaged by the Zurich Opera. There, she began her career in smaller to mid-sized roles such as Alisa in Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, or Annio in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito, whereby she was able to perform alongside great colleagues such as Edita Gruberova or Ann Murray. Her great success at the 1989 vocal competition “Neue Stimmen” in Gütersloh led to engagements in the role of Annio at the Salzburg Festival and as Rosina at the Vienna Staatsoper in 1991.

The highpoint of her career came in 1992, when she replaced Marilyn Horne in the title role of Rossini’s opera Tancredi at the Salzburg Festival. The young Bulgarian singer attracted the attention of the opera scene and she was engaged for various roles throughout Europe, including Rosina in London, Cherubino in Munich, Zerlina in Salzburg, Idamante in Florence, Charlotte in Zurich and Romeo from I Capuleti ed i Montecchi in Paris. She was able to gain a foothold in the United States, as well, and gave compelling performances as Romeo in New York and as Idamante in Chicago. The role of Sesto from La Clemenza di Tito, which she sang for the first time at the 1997 Salzburg Festival, also counts among her best, and she now regularly performs it with great success at the Zurich Opera, the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Opéra Bastille in Paris, London’s Royal Opera House Covent Garden and, most recently, at the Philharmonie am Gasteig in Munich.

Many recordings by the young Vesselina Kasarova have already appeared on the classical label RCA/BMG, including complete opera recordings as well as arias and duets. She works closely together with the tenor Juan Diego Flórez, with whom she also had one of her greatest triumphs in Rossini’s La Cenerentola in Pesaro and in London. Her debut in the role of Carmen at the Zurich Opera is planned for the summer of 2008.

Vesselina Kasarova was awarded the Europäischer Kulturpreis and received the Echo Klassik award in 2003. In July 2005, she was named “Bayerische Kammersängerin”.