The Kosciuszko Foundation Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition
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This competition encourages young singers to study the repertoire of Polish composers and to honor Polish soprano Marcella Sembrich Kochanska, one of the greatest artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
10/15/2024
CONGRATULATIONS to Polish-American soprano Magdalena Kuźma for winning the Kosciuszko Foundation 2024 Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition!
“We had a great semi-final round followed by a very difficult decision to select singers for the finals. We are very pleased with the very high artistic level of the participants,” said Thomas Lausmann, Artistic Director of the Competition to the Polish Press Agency. “We are very proud of Magdalena Kuźma, who demonstrated very good performance skills and that special artistic touch that moves us as an audience,” he added.
"I'm very proud of my performance in the competition. In the finals, I competed with singers who did not speak Polish. I so admire how hard they worked to learn beautiful music and difficult diction in order to participate in the competition. My goal as an artist is to present Polish repertoire so that those who don't know the music come to like it and eventually decide to perform Polish works," stated Kuźma.
Links to the full press release and the event photo gallery are in the comments.
10/12/2024
Welcome!
The Kosciuszko Foundation will present the final rounds of the KF Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition on Sunday, Oct. 12-13, 2024.
10/03/2024
Attention opera enthusiasts! A limited number of tickets are available for the final round of the KF 2024 Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition. The event will be held on Sunday, October 13, starting at 5:00 PM at the Kosciuszko Foundation's house in NYC. It will feature the performances of the top five contestants, an award ceremony, and a reception.
The Competition, presented under the artistic direction of Thomas Lausmann, Director of Music Administration at the Metropolitan Opera, will be adjudicated by esteemed musicians: Maestro Daniele Callegari, Beata Klatka, Director of the International Stanislaw Moniuszko Vocal Competition hosted by the Polish National Opera, Lee Ann Myslewski - Vice President of Opera and Classical Programming for Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and an acclaimed, three-time Grammy Award-winning bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green, who will serve as an Honorary Juror during Sunday's auditions. We are also proud to feature two of the most sought-after opera singers of our times, Piotr Beczala, tenor, and Tomasz Konieczny, bass-baritone, who are Honorary Patrons of the Competition.
Established pianists Katelan Tran Terrell and Michał Biel will provide piano accompaniment for the contestants.
You are invited!
We are grateful to Ms. Krystyna Piorkówska for the generous donation for the Competition project and to Ms. Ann C. Zagoreos, Drs. Henry and Francine Sikorski, The Sembrich, The Connecticut Lyric Opera, Tomasz Konieczny, and the Gerda Lissner Foundation for offering special prizes.
The Kosciuszko Foundation Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition was established in 1968 to encourage young singers to study the repertoire of Polish composers and to honor Polish soprano Marcella Sembrich Kochanska, one of the greatest artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1883. After an enormously successful career, the renowned singer founded the vocal programs at both the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute.
08/15/2024
Today’s the day! Applications for ’s Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition are due today! ✨🎶 Submit your application at www.kfsembrich.org
The KF Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition is open to singers of all voice types and of all nationalities who are 20-32 years old.
08/09/2024
The Big Seven of the 2024 KF Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition!
Over $20,000 in monetary awards and performances are offered as competition prizes.
The competition is held under the artistic direction of Thomas Lausmann, Director of Music Administration at the Metropolitan Opera. A jury panel consists of esteemed musicians: world-renowned conductor Daniele Callegari, Beata Klatka, Director of the International Stanislaw Moniuszko Vocal Competition, and Lee Ann Myslewski, Vice President of Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.
We welcome an acclaimed opera singer, three-time Grammy Award-winning bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green, as Honorary Juror. We are also proud to feature two of the most sought-after opera singers of our times, Piotr Beczala, tenor, and Tomasz Konieczny, bass-baritone, who are Honorary Patrons of the competition.
08/08/2024
A spotlight on the KF Marcella Sembrich Voice Competition’s outstanding most recent winner, soprano Alexandra Nowakowski!
Since winning the Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition, has continued to impress audiences worldwide with her extraordinary talent. Known for her exquisite interpretations of Polish music, she brings the works of composers like Karol Szymanowski and Stanisław Moniuszko to life with a depth and passion that is truly remarkable.
She has covered roles such as Nannetta in Falstaff and Gilda in Rigoletto at The Metropolitan Opera and continues to perform throughout Europe. Her performances are celebrated for their emotional richness and vocal brilliance, earning her a place among the most promising sopranos of her generation.
🎉 We are excited to announce that Lee Anne Myslewski will join the Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition as a jury member! 🌟
Lee Anne Myslewski is a highly respected figure in the world of opera, with a career that spans over two decades. As the Vice President of Opera and Classical Programming at Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, she has played a pivotal role in nurturing and advancing the careers of countless young artists. Her deep understanding of the opera world, combined with her passion for developing emerging talent, makes her an invaluable addition to our panel of jurors.
In addition to her work at Wolf Trap, Lee Anne is a sought-after speaker and panelist at major industry events. Her insights and expertise are widely recognized, and she has been instrumental in curating innovative programs that bring classical music to a broader audience.
We are honored to have Lee Anne Myslewski participate in this year’s competition and look forward to her guidance for our participants!
We are thrilled to announce that the esteemed Polish bass-baritone .konieczny has joined the Foundation's Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition as an Honorary Patron! 🎶
Tomasz Konieczny is a celebrated opera singer known for his powerful voice and commanding stage presence. Over the past two decades, he has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious opera houses, including the Vienna State Opera, the , and the Bayreuth Festival.
Born in Łódź, Poland, Tomasz’s repertoire includes iconic roles such as Wotan in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Alberich in Das Rheingold, and John the Baptist in Strauss’s Salome. We are excited to have him support and inspire the next generation of vocal talent!
🎶 Calling all singers! 🎶 Applications for ’s 2024 Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition are now OPEN! 🌟 This is a fantastic opportunity for young singers to be heard by a world-class jury and compete for several prizes.
Apply now before the August 1st deadline! ✨ Visit our website for more information, important dates, and competition requirements. https://www.kfsembrich.org/
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The Kosciuszko Foundation Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition was established in 1968 to encourage young singers to study the repertoire of Polish composers and to honor Polish soprano Marcella Sembrich Kochańska, one of the greatest artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1883. After an enormously successful career, the popular singer founded the vocal programs at both the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute. Previous winners of the competition include Barbara Hendricks.
Born into a near destitute family in a small village in partitioned Poland, Marcella Sembrich quickly found her love for music, first from her father, an itinerant music teacher, then to the Lemberg Conservatory and finally to studying voice at the Vienna Conservatory with the encouragement of Franz Liszt.
At the age of 19 Marcella Kochańska made her debut in Athens on June 3, 1877, before King George I and his court. Then triumph followed triumph in most of the capitals of Europe - London, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon, Warsaw, and Moscow.
She sang I Puritani, Dinorah, Lucia di Lammermoor, Robert le diable, and La sonnambula. In June 1880 Sembrich created a sensation in her debut at the Covent Garden as Lucia in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. She became a great favorite of the characters of Zerlina, Don Giovanni; Susanna, The Marriage of Figaro; Konstanze, The Abduction from the Seraglio; Lady Harriet/Martha, Martha.
In 1883, Marcella Sembrich was invited to sing in the newly founded Metropolitan Opera company. She made her Met debut as Lucia in the company premiere of Lucia di Lammermoor on October 24, 1883. She was also the Met’s first Elvira in I Puritani, Violetta in La Traviata, Amina in La Sonnambula, Gilda in Rigoletto, Marguerite in Les Huguenots and Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
In total, she sang more than 450 Met performances in her 11 seasons there, and remained associated with the company until 1909, when the silver jubilee of her Met debut was celebrated with a farewell gala.
Sembrich was superb not only in operatic repertoire but also as a concert vocalist. Her popularity grew enormously and she toured between Atlantic and Pacific. Sembrich was highly admired for her universal vocal abilities and throughout her career competed quite successfully with the legendary Adelina Patti. Eventually she was proclaimed Patti’s successor and the last queen of the Italian bel canto.
After her retirement, she gained preeminence as a vocal teacher at the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School. Sembrich, as a faculty teacher of voice at the Juilliard School of Music and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, was very generous with her students, many of whom she awarded scholarships. Her students included Alma Gluck, Hulda Lashanska, and Queena Mario. Additionally, some of her students in turn became important teachers around the country such as Anna Hamlin (teacher of Judith Raskin) at Smith College, Edith Piper and Florence Page Kimball (teacher of Leontyne Price) at Juilliard, Eufemia Gregory (teacher of Anna Moffo, Judith Blegen, and Frank Guarrera) at the Curtis Institute.
Marcella Sembrich was a woman of great and generous heart which she frequently manifested by providing assistance to the poor and to victims of disasters. At the outbreak of WWI, Marcella Sembrich established the American Polish Relief Committee and submerged herself into fundraising for the victims of the war. She cooperated with Ignacy Paderewski, her long time close friend. The donations of money, clothing, and medicine were forwarded to the Center in Switzerland headed by Henryk Sienkiewicz, and from there through different routes were distributed in Poland. Throughout her life she frequently manifested her deep patriotism and love for Poland. When Stephen Mizwa was establishing the Kosciuszko Foundation in 1925, Sembrich became a member of the National Advisory Board and supported his initiative financially.
Marcella Sembrich-Kochańska was an artist during the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Her native land, Galicia, was in the process of being ruined and erased from the European map by the vicious first World War. Born before the January Uprising, she was a supporter of the veterans of November. She sang before the Tsars, and the programs of her concerts in Warsaw and Vilnius were subject to censorship by Tsarist officials. While her family name was Kochańska, she achieved fame under her mother’s maiden name, which she took for a stage name, as Marcella Sembrich. Few believed that she was Polish, since Poland wasn't even on the map at that point. The year 1915 saw her directing her heartfelt sentiments - as well as considerable sums of money - as well as considerable sums of money - toward her Fatherland, rising like a phoenix from the ashes, free at last; she was later a recipient of the Order of Polonia Restituta. The daughters of Mickiewicz and Krasinski - the great Polish poets, were among those who listened to her singing; she also appeared on stage beside Johannes Brahms, and Helena Modrzejewska (Modjeska) was among the many who appreciated her artistry. She danced the Polka with her friend Ignacy Paderewski, was a favorite soloist of conductor Artur Nikisch, and consulted with Puccini himself on how to sing Mimì (...)
- from the biography book “Marcella Sembrich- Kochańska. Artystka Swiata” by Malgorzata Komorowska and Juliusz Multarzynski, translated by Karol White.
