Vesselina Kasarova was born in central Bulgaria in July 1965. She gave her first stage performance as a 16 years old pianist performing Mozart sonatas in 1981 in her home town. As she studied piano and worked as accompanist at recitals, Kasarova became drawn to the voice as musical instrument.

Her international career took flight in Salzburg in 1992 when at short notice, she stood in and gave a stellar performance for Marilyn Horne as Tancredi in two concert performances of the Rossini opera. Since then she's been a regular guest performer at that summer festival, performing in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, Idomeneo, Cosi fan tutte, Mitridate, Ombra Felice, and Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust. She has also performed at other notable opera festivals such as Bregenz, St. Moritz, Glyndebourne, and Pesaro.

Vesselina Kasarova, her husband, and their son live near Zürich, Switzerland where she regularly gives concerts and performs at the Opernhaus.