Calendar of Cultural Events

Please verify dates and times with The Kosciuszko Foundation Director of Cultural Affairs
Tom Pniewski -- (212) 734-2130 ext. 214

Marcella Sembrich Anniversary Concert
Thursday, February 28 at 7pm
Tickets for this special concert are $20

Marcella Sembrich, the great Polish soprano who came to America to sing at the newly founded New York Metropolitan Opera, will be honored in a special concert Thursday, February 28, at the Kosciuszko Foundation. Beginning at 7 PM, this 150th “birthday” concert features two soloists from the Met – Edyta Kulczak, mezzo-soprano, and Valerian Ruminski, bass – in a program of solos and duets, accompanied by concert pianist and Met coach Michael Fennelly. Information will also be available about the Foundation’s Marcella Sembrich Vocal Scholarship Competition, on Saturday, March 8.

Edyta Kulczak received her Master of Music from the Chopin Conservatory in Warsaw and Artist Diploma from Northwestern University School of Music. She received additional training from Marilyn Horne at the Music Academy of the West. Ms. Kulczak has also received first prizes with Barnett Foundation, the national competition of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Society of American Musicians, and the Chicago Bel Canto Foundation Opera Competition.

Following the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, Opera magazine exclaimed, “In terms of dramatic intensity, there was perhaps no one who sang better or more consistently than the Polish mezzo Edyta Kulczak” and further praised her for her “full and rich voice and naturally elegant presence.”

This season, she returns to the Metropolitan Opera, where she made her debut five years ago in La Traviata, in the production staff for Die Walküre, Madama Butterfly, Carmen, La Traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor, War and Peace, and Manon Lescaut. She also sings the title role in Carmen with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra in Louisiana.

Valerian Ruminski is a graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and of SUNY-Buffalo. He is the recipient of many grants and awards, and was the Laureate of the Marcella Sembrich Vocal Competition sponsored by the Kosciuszko Foundation. He has performed with some of the great opera companies in the USA and abroad, including the Metropolitan Opera and NYC Opera. He also make his debut at Carnegie Hall in a concert version of La Juive, and on PBS for the 25th Annual Richard Tucker Gala.

Valerian Ruminski has performed in The Marriage of Figaro, Il Trovatore, Rigoletto, La Boheme, and dozens of other operas. His concert appearances include Messiah with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Verdi Requiem at the Verdi Festival in Forli, Italy, and Carmen in concert with the Buffalo Philharmonic. This season includes appearances in Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Seattle, and Montreal. Valerian Ruminski can be heard on the Naxos label release of 'Night at the Opera' with other young singers who have debuted at the Metropolitan Opera.

In 1883 Marcella Sembrich (1865 – 1935) went to the United States to sing in the newly founded Metropolitan Opera Company. After several years in St. Petersburg, Sembrich returned to the Met in 1898, where she sang more than 450 Met performances in eleven seasons there. She remained associated with the company until 1909, when the silver jubilee of her Met debut was celebrated with a farewell gala. She gave recitals until 1917 after which she taught students from the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and New York's Juilliard School.

All events take place at the Foundation House, unless otherwise noted. Programs subject to change. Click here for directions.

Kosciuszko Foundation programs are supported by the Mary F. Koons Charitable Trust, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), the Tadeusz Solowij Literary Fund, and the KF Cultural Fund.

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Marcella Sembrich

Edyta Kulczak

Valerian Ruminski