Zhivka Klinkova

Zhivka Klinkova (; 30 July 1924 – 23 December 2002) was a Bulgarian composer, pianist and conductor, who was the laureate of the World Youth Festival in Bucharest in 1953. She also received a diploma from Pope John Paul II in 1981 for her opera Cyril and Methodius. Early life and education Zhivka Klinkova was born in Samokov, Bulgaria on 30 July 1924. She attended the Sofia Academy of Music, where she was taught composition by Parashkev Hadjiev and piano by Dimitar Nenov. She graduated from the academy in 1951, then continued her studies with Rudolf Wagner-Régeny and Boris Blacher at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. Career After she graduated from the academy she began work as a conductor with the state-sponsored Kutev Folkloric Folksong and Dance Company, and she became the only female orchestral director of a professional Bulgarian folk group. She also composed works for the group’s repertoire and worked there until 1960. She subsequently, she travelled to Germany to study, and was taught by Rudolf Wagner-Régeny from 1960 to 1966 and then by Boris Blacher in Berlin from 1966 to 1968. After she finished her studies, she began work as a freelance composer and wrote ballets, opera a