Competitions

Marcella Kochańska Sembrich 2023 Recital
(l. to. r.) Dorothy Gal with Music Committee Members Jarosław Gołembiowski (piano accompanist), Celia and Dick Larkin, and ACPC President Ray Glembocki.

ACPC Marcella Kochańska Sembrich Vocal Competition

Marcella Kochańska Sembrich (1858-1935} was a Polish coloratura soprano with a long career at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, after which she taught at Curtis Institute and Juilliard School of Music.

The ACPC Marcella Sembrich Award was established to support the career development of a young singer of Polish descent. The first award was given in 1954, but the tradition of an annual competition did not start until 1971. It was originally funded with a gift presented to the American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs (as the ACPC was formerly known} by admirers of Mme Sembrich, to be used for an award to a talented vocalist, male or female. For a number of years, the Marcela Sembrich Vocal Award was presented to a singer from the area in which the annual ACPC convention was being held. This has changed with time and now the award recipients are selected from among candidates .throughout the United States by the ACPC Music Committee.