Olga Kulchynska

Born in 1990, Ukrainian soprano Olga Kulchynska gained the attention of the opera world in 2015 when she was awarded First Prize at the Francisco Viñas Vocal Competition in Barcelona. She subsequently debuted to great acclaim at the Zürich Opera as Giulietta in Christof Loy’s new production of »I Capuleti e i Montecchi«, opposite Joyce DiDonato and conducted by Fabio Luisi, after which she bowed at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona as Musetta in »La Bohème«. The soprano has since been invited for major debuts at the Paris Opera, Bavarian State Opera in Munich and Metropolitan Opera. Kulchynska begins the 2019/20 season with her debut at he Metropolitan Opera as Musetta and will close it out with her debut at the Glyndebourne Festival as Adina in »L’elisir d’amore«. After joining the ensemble of the Zürich Opera in 2018, Kulchynska returns there this season as Gretel in »Hänsel und Gretel«, Pamina in »Die Zauberflöte«, Adina and Musetta. She will also return to Munich as Pamina. In the 2018/19 season, Kulchynska sang her first Leila in »Les Pêcheurs de Perles« at the Zürich Opera, a role which she later reprised at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. She also appeared in Zürich for her first Gretel, after which she made her role and house debut as Lyebyed in Rimsky-Korsakov’s »The Tale of Tsar Saltan« at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. In the 2017/18 season, Kulchynska made five significant house debuts: at the Opera Bastille in Paris as Rosina in »Il Barbiere di Siviglia«, at the Bavarian State Opera as Susanna in the new production of »Le Nozze di Figaro«, at the Rome Opera and Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam as Musetta, and at the Hamburg State Opera for her first Pamina. She also appeared in Munich as Adina and sang Pamina at the Peralada Festival. Kulchynska has been a leading member of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow since 2014, when she made her debut as Marfa in the new production of Rimsy-Korsakov’s »The Tsar’s Bride«. Last season, she appeared at the Bolshoi as Corinna in Rossini’s Il Viaggo a Reims and Susanna in »Le Nozze di Figaro«. Subsequent engagements for the 2016/17 season included her return to the Zürich Opera for three roles: Giulietta, and her first performances of Adina in L’elisir d’amore and Zerlina in »Don Giovanni«. Other recent performances include Kulchynska’s revival of Giulietta in »I Capuleti e i Montecchi« at Zürich Opera and her debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu as Musetta. Olga Kulchynska studied music theory at the Kiev Glier State College of Music, and at the age of 19 she began her vocal studies at the Tchaikovsky Kiev National Music Academy of Ukraine with Maria Stefiuk. In addition to her First Prize win at the Viñas Competition, Kulchynska has won many prestigious vocal competitions, including Grand Prix at the 2011 Grigory Alchevsky International Singing Competition in Kharkov, Third Prize at Plácido Domingo’s 2016 Operalia Competition, Third Prize in the 2012 Bul-Bul International Vocal Competition, and First Prize in the 2012 Mykola Lysenko International Music Competition in Kiev. She was also a semi-finalist in the 2012 International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna. Kulchynska was invited to join the Young Artist Program of the Bolshoi Theater in 2013, during which time she made her debut as Marfa. In 2014, she was invited to join the company itself. Kulchynska has participated in several guest appearances with the Bolshoi, singing Marfa in the new production of Rimsky-Korakov’s The Tsar’s Bride in February of 2014. Other roles in the artist’s developing repertoire include Ilia in »Idomeneo«, Amina in »La Sonnambula«, Juliette in »Roméo et Juliette«, Micaëla in «Carmen« and Antonia in »Les Contes d’Hoffmann«.