The Ruse Prize is a prestigious distinction awarded in Ruse for the contribution of artists and activists in the field of education, culture and art. This prize has become an invariable tradition and every year on May 24, in honour of the feast day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, of the Bulgarian alphabet, education and culture and of the Slavonic alphabet, it is awarded to persons who have contributed significantly to the development of the Ruse cultural scene.
The nominations and the winners of the 2023 award were announced at a ceremony in the Great Hall of the State House. One of the prizes was awarded to Stelijana Dimitrova-Hernani, conductor of the choir of the State Opera - Ruse and the mixed choir "Danube Sounds". She was awarded in the Performing Arts category.
Steliana was born in Plovdiv in a family of musicians. Remarkable is the heredity and creative continuity in the professional growth of the Ruse choir conductor. Her grandfather Stefan Georgiev-Hernani was one of the founders of the Ruse Opera and, alongside this, an active member and supporter of the Ruse Philharmonic.
Among the premiere titles she has prepared over the past decade, most of which have been part of the March Music Days International Festival, are the operas Falstaff, Hoffmann's Stories, "Caterina Ismailova, The Rose Cavalier, Macbeth, Il trovatore, The Flying Dutchman, Maria Dessislava (with the Danube Sounds Choir), Fidelio (Danube Sounds Choir), Hymn of the Nations by J.Verdi, the oratorio "Molenie" by Naiden Andreev, performed at the Bulgaria Hall in Sofia in honour of the inauguration of the Bulgarian Patriarch Neofit and "The Armed Man" by Carl Jenkins, performed in the programmes of the March Music Days in Ruse and the European Music Festival at the Bulgaria Hall in Sofia, Requiem by Gabriel Fauré (Danube Sounds Choir) in Ruse, at the end of 2019, Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi (2022), Requiem by Antonin Dvorak and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (with Danube Sounds Choir), 2023.
The award in the Performing Arts category is in recognition of Steliana Dimitrova-Hernani's outstanding achievements in music and theatre. Her work as a conductor of choirs and choral ensembles contributes to the high quality of the stage productions and concerts of the State Opera - Ruse and establishes the city as an important cultural centre.
