site.btaAlbanian Soprano Ramona Tullumani to Perform in Sofia

Albanian soprano Ramona Tulumani will perform her concert Sun and Love  on the stage of the Sofia Opera and Ballet on Sunday, the hosts of the event said. "The famous Albanian opera singer is known to the Bulgarian audience from her previous appearances as Violetta from Verdi's La Traviata," the Sofia Opera and Ballet website stated.

"I am very happy to come back to Sofia. I am happy to present to you romances by Puccini, Tosti and the most beautiful Neapolitan canzonetti. I love you very, very much. I am waiting to be with you at the Opera of Sofia, the most favourite opera for me. You are my most favourite audience", Tullumani is quoted as saying by the organizers.

Ramona Tullumani graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Tirana. She specialized with Katia Ricciarelli, as well as in the master class of Raina Kabaivanska. In addition to the opera stage in her home city, her artistic path has taken her through major theatres around the world. She teaches at the Academy of Music in Tirana, and since 2007 has been a UN Ambassador for Peace.

Her great-grandfather Georgi Lilov was an engineer who worked with Arch. Lazar Parashkevanov in the construction of the National Opera and Ballet Theatre building on Vrabcha Street. Her grandfather Ramiz Kovaci studied opera singing at the Sofia Conservatory under prof. Hristo Brambarov. Here he married Nikoleta Lilova, daughter of the engineer Lilov. The two went to Albania, where the career of Ramiz Kovaci, recognized as the most famous Albanian baritone, passed.