After studies in composition with Vladigerov at the Bulgarian State Conservatory, graduating in 1962, he continued with Shostakovich at the Moscow State Conservatory. Later he worked as conductor of the Philip Kutev State Folksong and Dance Ensemble and the Folksong Ensemble of the Bulgarian Committee for Radio and Television, then taught at the conservatory before becoming a freelance composer.
Kyurkchiiski's works cover a broad range of genres, including two ballets. His spontaneous and emotional nature, as well as the expressive and romantic tension in his works, shows a close identification with Vladigerov's style and his musical language owes much to the folk music of the Shopski area around Sofia.
He has written two operas, which are both in a traditional and accessible style. Yula, a two-act psychological opera to a libretto by Petar Filchev, was first performed at Stara Zagora in 1969, Nasledstvo (Heritage; also known as A votre sante), to a libretto by Molen Paunov, received its premiere in Sofia on November 30th, 1986. The plot centers on the family of Stefan Boasier, a writer, and the confusion that arises from his feigned death.