Full Biography
Since receiving First Prize at the Francisco Viñas Vocal Competition in Barcelona in 2015, Olga Kulchynska has quickly established herself as one of the leading lyrical sopranos of her generation. She frequently appears with the world’s leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Opernhaus Zürich, the Bayerische Staatsoper, Opéra National de Paris, and the Gran Teatre del Liceu.
The highlight of Kulchynska’s 2024/25 season is her highly awaited house and role debut at the Opéra de Lausanne as Mathilde in Wilhelm Tell directed by Bruno Ravella and conducted by Francesco Lanzillotta. This season Kulchynska returns to the Royal Opera House as Mimi in La Bohème revival of Richard Jones’ production, to the Metropolitan Opera as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro by Richard Eyre and to the Bayerische Staatsoper for her debut as Fiordiligi in Benedict Andrews’ production of Così Fan Tutte conducted by Christopher Moulds. Kulchynska can also be heard in Munich in her solo recital at the Münchner Künstlerhaus.
In the 2023/24 season, Kulchynska made her highly anticipated Royal Opera House debut as Micaëla in Carmen. She returned twice to the Metropolitan Opera for performances as Musetta in La bohème and Liù in Turandot. Her touching portrayal of Ilia in Idomeneo was reprised with the Bayerische Staatsoper, and she joined La Monnaie in Brussels for a revival of Dmitri Tcherniakov’s critically acclaimed production of The Tale of Tsar Saltan as Tsarevna Swan-Bird. On the concert stage, Kulchynska was heard in Rachmaninoff’s The Bells in Utrecht and Amsterdam with maestro Karina Canellakis, in Rossini’s Stabat Mater in Ljubljana at the Cankarjev Dom, and in the title role of Iolanta in concert at Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre for the Arts with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
In the 2022/23 season, Olga Kulchynska made major and diverse role debuts. She saw her Handel debut as Ginevra in Ariodante at Opéra de Paris, starred as Mimì in La bohème with Opernhaus Zürich, returned to the Bayerische Staatsoper as Natasha in Prokofiev’s War and Peace, was heard as Gänsemagd in Humperdinck’s Königskinder at the Dutch National Opera and Juliette in Romeo et Juliette at Opéra de Rouen. She also appeared in the 7 deaths of Maria Callas directed by Marina Abramović at Royal Theatre Carré and concluded her season as Micaëla in Carmen at the storied Arena di Verona.
The 2021/22 season saw Kulchynska in her role debut as Ilia in Idomeneo at Bayerische Staatsoper Festival, as the fragile Blanche de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites at Opernhaus Zürich, and as Micaëla in Carmen at Vienna State Opera. She returned to the Bolshoi Theater as Volkhova in Sadko, and to the Bayerische Staatsoper as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. Olga Kulchynska concluded the season in collaboration with the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra and maestro Keri-Lynn Wilson in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, both at the Polish National Opera in Warsaw and at Berlin’s Schlossgarten Schönhausen. She also joined the Edinburgh Festival for performances of Rachmaninoff’s The Bells at Usher Hall.
Olga Kulchynska is a graduate of the Young Artist Program of Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. During her tenure she rose to become a leading member of the company, making notable debuts including Marfa in the production of Rimsy-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride, Corinna in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims, Gilda in Rigoletto and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro.
Additional career highlights include a dazzling debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Musetta in La bohème. Following her sensational first performances as Giulietta in I Capuleti e I Montecchi, the soprano was invited to return to Opernhaus Zürich as Pamina, Musetta, Adina and Zerlina. At the Bayerische Staatsoper, she was Susanna in the new production of Le nozze di Figaro, and sang Adina and Pamina in revivals of L’elisir d’amore and Die Zauberflöte. She was heard as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Opera Bastille in Paris, Musetta in La bohème at Opera di Roma and Dutch National Opera, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at the Hamburg State Opera and at the Castell de Peralada Festival.
Olga Kulchynska was educated in music theory at the R. Glier Kyiv Institute of Music and continued with vocal studies at the Pyotr Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine. In addition to placing first at the Viñas Competition, Kulchynska has been the recipient of prizes in numerous international vocal competitions including Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition, the Bul-Bul International Vocal Competition in Baku, and the Mykola Lysenko International Music Competition in Kiev.
© CSAM, August 2024
