Mozart’s “Magic flute”, Wagner’s “Der Ring des Niebelungen”, Rossini’s “La Cenerentola” and … Spotify. The common thing between them, if you wonder, is Milena. Milena Gurova is an opera singer and an Email Support Consultant at our Spotify program. What she thought would be a temporary job after seeing a Sutherland ad on social media, continues 5 years already as part of our music loving team. 

Sutherland: Tell us about your career as an opera singer?

Milena: I started singing as soon as I finished my career as a ballet dancer. With a mom being a classical singer, it was the most logical thing to do. Graduating from the Conservatory in Maastricht (The Netherlands), my path as an opera singer began in the Benelux area and continued through the rest of Europe. What I love most about singing is the possibility to express myself through music, the continuing search for different colors in my voice and the excitement and emotions I share with colleagues and audience.

S: Tell us about your performances. Any favorite ones?

M: My debut was set in Brussels as First Lady in Mozart’s “Magic flute”. After that I sang almost every female part from this opera. Later, my path led me to Vienna, Sofia, and Moscow, where I took part in the enormous production of Wagner’s “Der Ring des Niebelungen”. One of my favorite productions ever was “Werther” by Jules Massenet, staged in Sofia’s National Opera.

My next performances include a piece I staged myself for the vocal formation “Bella Voce”, called “La Donna e Mobile”, as well as singing the part of the nasty stepsister in Rossini’s “La Cenerentola” (Cinderella).

S: What is your next goal as an opera singer?

M: That’s a difficult question – goals never end for a passionate musician. After all, only sky is the limit 🙂 Becoming a better performer includes so much more than just singing. You need to study life itself. I do have some ideas for new exciting projects, but only time will show if they can become reality.

S: Share the things you are proud of as an opera singer.

M: Being an opera singer has given me the opportunity to travel a lot, see different places and explore different cultures. I suppose I wouldn’t be the person I am now, without this experience.

S: How did you find out about and why did you join Sutherland?

M: I saw some adverts in social media and thought it would be a great idea to try something completely different. At first, I thought it would be only temporary, but after a while it felt so good, I decided to stay. That moment was 5 years ago. 🙂

S: Tell us what you do at Sutherland.

M: I work as an email agent and language expert with Dutch. The most fantastic thing about our project is the fact that it’s all about music!

S: How do you combine your job as an opera singer with you job at Sutherland?

M: Having the possibility to work part-time (6 h) for Sutherland, gave me the freedom to keep singing. It’s not always easy to combine the two activities, but I always try warming-up my voice in the morning before work, so I’d be ready to rehearse in the evening, after work. 

S: What do you like about your job and your team at Sutherland?

M: What I really like most about my job is my team. They have been extremely caring, supportive, and engaged. They even visited some of my performances last summer, which I highly appreciate.

S: How does your job at Sutherland help you develop personally and professionally compared to singing?

M: It has given me a lot of new technical skills, as well as the ability to work tightly in a team. The people I work with are all coming from different backgrounds, which makes the communication always useful and enriching. I’ve learned to look at things from another perspective, and I’m very grateful for it.

Want to join Milena’s team? Check out the open positions here!