Kiril Stefanov graduated from the State Academy of Music in Sofia in 1956 majoring in Choral Conducting. The same year he was appointed conductor and artistic director of the Pirin State Folklore Ensemble. This appointment determined the focus of his creative efforts. Concurrently he served as director of the Centre for Amateur Art Activities. In 1991 he was promoted Professor of Choral Conducting at the State Academy of Music. He gave over 6,000 concerts with the Pirin Ensemble in Bulgaria and abroad in more than 50 countries. He won the Golden LP Prize in Nashville, USA (1982). The following year the Bulgarian recording company Balkanton awarded him its Golden LP Prize. In 2003 he was given the title Doctor honoris causa by the South-western University in Blagoevgrad.

He wrote songs for all kinds of vocal ensembles, authored folksong arrangements, etc. His compositions and his work with the Pirin Ensemble characterise the contemporary trends in Bulgarian compositional work for traditional music ensembles and the stage performance of Bulgarian traditional music. Compiler of song collections. His works were released on LP, audiocassette and CD. CD albums include Christmas Songs; Balkan Passions (made in co-authorship with Peter Liondev), etc.

Choral songs:
Mori ayda, ayda; Vila se i gora; Altan Maro; Zvonche Dranka (A Bell Is Ringing); Aide tzafti, Rujo; Stiga yodish, Yane mori; Ya ti postilam shareni chergi (I Make Your Bed With Coloured Carpets); Pismo ti e doshlo (You Have A Letter); Yujni galyovni pesni (Endearment Songs from the South).

Instrumental music:
Game; Sredna Gora; Graovski; Thracian People; Song and Dance; Gin Dance; Unmarried.

Stage music suites:
On the Square; Kopanitsa; Spring Songs and Dances from Pirin Mountain; Breath of Air from Pirin Mountain; My Pirin Mountain; Komitsko libe (Rebel’s Wife); Biliana.

Solo Songs:
More, aresah si; Koga si me, mamo, rodila (When Was I Born, Mother); Tragna moma za voda (Maiden Went For Water); Katerino mome.

Selected books (published in Bulgarian):
Art That Shaped Me. My Way With the Pirin Ensemble (Sofia, 2003).