THEO POPOV is a multimedia composer and multisensory artist whose work expands beyond the theater stage and film screen into immersive, cross-disciplinary performances. An award-winning creator of five operas presented across the United States, Popov builds richly textured sonic worlds that integrate acoustic, electronic, theatrical, and experiential elements into unified artistic environments.
Rooted in a childhood immersed in Bulgarian folklore and Christian Orthodox chant, Popov’s musical language bridges ancient traditions, contemporary technology and musical geometry into sonic explorations of myth, politics, memory, and collective experience. From his debut opera NERO ARTIFEX at Princeton University to subsequent operas developed with American Lyric Theater, The Secret Opera, Yale Opera Theater, and Willamette University, Popov has consistently created dramatically-driven works that interrogate the present through layered musical storytelling, such as his recent opera Town Hall, which confronts contemporary American politics. Currently, he is working with librettist Tony Asaro on an operatic adaptation of the Ray Bradbury novella The Halloween Tree commissioned by American Lyric Theater, and on the immersive, multimedia and multisensory opera City of Specters, based on a work of dissident fiction smuggled out of North Korea.
On screen, Popov’s music appears in the Emmy Award–winning documentary Possible Selves, the adventure film Lloyd Kennedy, Professional Sasquatch Photographer (winner of the Best Score award at Film Score Fest 2021), and The Avengeress (Vasil Gendov Awards Best Score nominee, 2024). He has also recently expanded into video game scoring, joining the composing team for SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit 2.
Theo Popov has received orchestral commissions from the Brazilian National Orchestra, the Sofia Philharmonic, and the orchestras of the San Francisco Conservatory and Princeton University, as well as choral commissions from the San Francisco Choral Artists, the Princeton Singers, and the Cerddorion Vocal Ensemble. His work spans an unusually wide range of genres—from puppet theater to classical ballet—and he has been an artist-in-residence at Yaddo and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. His honors include a Sky Hi Grant, the Kristin Pankonin Art Song Award, and a Princeton University Research Grant.
Beyond composition, Popov engages the senses through interdisciplinary collaboration. A Court of Master Sommeliers–certified sommelier and WSET Diploma recipient, he creates curated wine-and-music experiences through Vine Opera, designing performances that unite sound, taste, and narrative into cohesive sensory journeys. In addition, Popov works extensively with ambisonic audio and performs theremin in venues ranging from intimate bars to planetariums.
Theo Popov studied composition with Steve Mackey and Paul Lansky at Princeton University and with David Conte and Douglass McCausland at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Contact Theo at theo@theopopov.com