23 april 2025 State Opera - Stara Zagora visits with "Sting The Opera"

The magnificent music of Sting in a symphonic arrangement will be presented in a special concert of the orchestra of the State Opera-Stara Zagora and the Military Big Band with conductor Capt. Tsvetomir Vassilev. The soloist is the famous jazz performer Petar Salchev. “Sting the Opera”. The event will be on April 29 this year at 7 pm in the hall of the State Opera - Burgas.

In the concert “Sting the Opera” /literally “stung the Opera”/ we will hear some of the most popular songs of the British musical legend Sting, including, among others, “Englishman in New York”, “Fields of Gold”, “Share of My Heart”, “Every Breath You Take”, “Roxanne”, “Russians”, “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You”, “Moon over Bourbon Street” and others. Arrangements are by David Hartley, Michel Legrand, Rob Mathis, Vince Mendoza, Steven Mercurio, Bill Ross, and Nikola Tescari.

Petar Salchev was born in 1969 in the city of Plovdiv. His interest in music began in adolescence and was focused on the classical guitar. In 1990, he began his vocal career, working and

collaborating with "White, Green and Red" - one of Bulgaria's most popular and established jazz formations. In 1994, he won the award for best young performer from the "Youth Jazz Meeting" in Plovdiv. In 1994, he continued his vocal and musical education at the pop-jazz faculty of the State Academy of Music "Pancho Vladigerov", in the class of Assoc. Prof. Georgi Kordov. In 1997, he won a scholarship for a master's program at the Boston Conservatory. Participant with his own projects in all prestigious jazz forums in Bulgaria. In 2009, the Greek company Anokato also released its project with Kostas Maginas – TheCall. Since 2005, he has been an assistant in singing at the AMTII - Plovdiv.

He has made several recordings for the Bulgarian National Television and Radio, soloist of the Big Band of the National Radio, Big Band Plovdiv, works with Angel Zaberski-son, Zhivko Petrov, Hristo Yotsov, Simeon Shterev, Teodosii Spasov, Assen Doikin, Milcho Leviev, Petar Petrov, Kamelia Todorova, Hilda Kazasyan, Oliver Yosifovski, Kostas Maginas, Marius Pop, Dorina Markova, Boris Tonkov, Tashko Tashev, Ana Dimova. He has performed on the stages of all jazz festivals in Bulgaria. He has given concerts in England, Germany, Austria, Denmark, the United States, Turkey, Greece, and Romania.

Petar Salchev was a soloist with the Military Big Band in the sixth edition of Jazz Forum-Stara Zagora, when they performed a joint concert with Craig Bailey, long-time leader and soloist of the legendary Ray Charles' orchestra (in

one of the photos).

Sting is the only world star whose love for Bulgaria has lasted for 23 years. During this time, he has visited our country 6 times, performing 7 concerts in different locations in front of about 50,000 spectators. Sting's musical

talent ranges from melodic pop and new wave, through jazz compositions similar to the pieces in The Dream of the Blue Turtles, classical Renaissance music in the album Songs from the Labyrinth, in which

He partnered with Bosnian lute virtuoso Edin Karamazov, and even interpretations of traditional Christmas melodies in If on a Winter's Night…

(Watch his wonderful concert performance at Durham Cathedral).

In 2003, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. In 2014, the White House presented him with the Kennedy Center Honorary Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts.

In 2000, he was inducted into the Hollywood Hall of Fame. In 2006, he was ranked 62nd among the greatest living artists. VH1 ranked him 63rd among the 100 greatest rock artists. Q magazine ranked him 80th in its list of the greatest artists of the 20th century.

In total, for his entire career - including The Police and his solo performances - Sting has sold over 100 million copies.

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, as Sting's full name /translates as Gillo/, was born in 1951 in Wallsend, England. In the mid-1970s, he became popular as the leader of the band "The Police", and from

1984, he made a solo career. Sting's first solo work was the soundtrack to the 1982 film "Brimstone and Treacle". He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his achievements and contributions to the field of music. In his rich business card, he has 16 Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, and a number of other musical awards.

He is so used to his pseudonym Sting that in an interview years ago, he admitted that he would not turn around on the street if someone called him by his birth name Gordon.