Atanas Iliev graduated from the State Academy of Music in 1967 majoring in Choral Conducting and Musicology. The same year he was appointed conductor at the ensemble for traditional song and dance at the Regional Department of the Ministry of Interior in Varna, where he worked up to 1976. He was co-founder of the Varna Professional Ensemble for Traditional Song and Dance (1976-90), for which he composed choral, orchestral, dance and ensemble works and also performed works by eminent composers in the genre. He worked as a consultant and later as a music editor at the Traditional Music and Documentary and Artistic Programmes Section at the Regional TV Centre in Varna (1990-2000). He created his own folklore programme, which won a permanent place in the programme scheme of the Bulgarian National Television and of the Sea Regional Programme.
He authored lots of folklore and music films, some of which kept in the Bulgarian National Television’s Fund. These were for instance the musical travel notes With Dobri Hristov Choir to Switzerland and With Morski Zvutzi Choir in the USA or the film essays The Nightingale of Dobroudja (about the folklore singer K. Valcheva) and With the Songs of Kalinka Zgurova. During the same period (1990-2000) he was Main Artistic Director of the Macedonian ensemble for traditional song and dance Gotze Delchev in Varna as well as of the folklore theatre Rites. Since 2000 he has been realising the folklore programme Carousel on the Music TV’s Channel 8. This programme unique for the North-Eastern Bulgaria features young or well-established traditional music singers and instrumentalists.
His works were performed in Bulgaria and abroad by eminent ensembles such as The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices, Cosmic Voices, Boyana Orchestra, the Philip Koutev National Folklore Ensemble, the choir for arranged Bulgarian traditional music “Smile” from Denmark, etc.

Songs for choir a capella:
Snoshti otidoh (I Went Last Night) (for traditional music/professional choir);
Kavali sviriat (Kavals Are Playing) for six-voiced traditional music choir;
Songs from Kamchia – triptych;
Znaesh li, Yanke? (Have You Heard, Yanka?);
Shto mi say chulo (I Have Heard).

Songs for choir with accompaniment:
Georgi na Dena dumashe (Georgi Spoke to Dena) for choir, soloists and orchestra;
Diptych for traditional music choir and organ;
Maro lio, Mavrudo for soloist, vocal trio, choir and orchestra;
Songs for trio and string orchestra;
Izgryala zora denitza (Rising Sun) for soloist, vocal trio, six-voiced choir and traditional music instruments.

Music to dance productions:
Dances from Kamchia Region;
Arrows in the Girl’s Door;
Lazarki and others.