Ivan was born in Burgas, Bulgaria in 1976. He graduated from the special High School of Folk Music "Filip Kutev" in 1995. He went on to graduate from the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv in 1999 specialising in the bagpipe and orchestral conducting. He is currently a teacher there and performs with the National Representative Orchestra of the Academy.

Ivan has been on tours all over the world with the renowned Bulgarian women's choir "The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices" and also as accompanist to the vocal quartet "Slavei".