Edyta Kulczak
Mezzo-soprano
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 then further praised her for her "full and rich voice and naturally elegant presence." In the 2009-10 season, she joins Boston Lyric Opera for Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos and returns to the Metropolitan Opera to sing the Designer in Lulu and for other productions that include Aida, Suor Angelica, Carmen, and Les Contes d'Hoffmann. In the 2008-09 season, she made her debut with the Savonlinna Festival as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly and Marta in Mefistofele, and she returned to Opera Wrocławska in her native Poland as Dalila in Samson et Dalila. She also returned to the Metropolitan Opera for Grimgerde in Die Walküre as well as added productions of Das Rheingold, Götterdämmerung, Il trovatore, Rigoletto, and Manon to her repertoire with the company.
Ms. Kulczak has been a frequent guest at the Metropolitan Opera since the Grand Finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and her subsequent debut as Flora in La traviata. Her other previous engagements with the famed company include Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Mercédès in Carmen, the Lady comme ci comme ca in The Gambler, Ninetta in I vespri Siciliani, the Priestess in Aida, Flowermaiden in Parsifal and Third Sprite in Rusalka. She has also joined the company for Le nozze di Figaro, Kata Kabanova, Le Rossignol, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Moses and Aaron, L'italiana in Algeri, Don Carlo, Faust, Les Troyens and La clemenza di Tito under such conductors as James Levine, Plácido Domingo, Lorin Mazel, Valery Gergiev, Marcello Viotti, Bernard de Billy, and Fabio Luisi. She has also sung the title role in Carmen with Opera Wrocławska and the Acadiana Symphony in Louisiana, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Santa Barbara Grand Opera, Flora in La traviata with Opera Theater of Saint Louis, and Preziosilla in La forza del destino under the direction of Carlo Bergonzi with the A. Toscanini Fondazione in Busseto, Italy.
On the concert platform, Ms. Kulczak has sung Bach's Magnificat and Handel's Alexander's Feast with the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra in Sapporo, Japan; and Mozart's Requiem and Cavalleria rusticana at the Aegean Music Festival in Syros, Greece. Her repertoire also includes Szymanowski's Stabat Mater, Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Mozart's Missa di Requiem, and Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen; and she has sung many song recitals throughout the United States and Europe. Ms. Kulczak made her Carnegie Hall debut as part of the Leif Ove Andsnes Perspectives series in Zankel Hall.
She received her Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the Chopin Conservatory of Music in Warsaw and Artist Diploma from Northwestern University School of Music. With these institutions, she performed the roles of Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito, and Frau Reich in Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor. She received additional training at the Music Academy of the West where she sang Eduige in Rodelinda. 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 Bel Canto Foundation Opera Competition.