The Sembrich Opens for its 100th Anniversary Season
The Sembrich has opened its studio museum and historic lakeside grounds for the 2024 season. Visitors can explore the rich artistic history of our region and learn about one of the Gilded Age’s most popular international celebrities through the museum’s exhibitions and events.
Built in 1924, The Sembrich’s lakeside studio museum was once a vocal studio belonging to its namesake Polish soprano Marcella Sembrich (1858-1935). Sembrich was internationally famous as an opera and concert singer, appearing across Europe and the United States between 1878 and 1917. She toured and performed in over 30 states, from Maine to California, and was one of the first commercial recording artists with the Victor Talking Machine Company.
In 1924, the same year the studio was built, she was named the first director of the voice faculties at the Juilliard School in New York City, and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. During the summer months, she would bring her students to her Lake George estate, teaching daily lessons in the studio and arranging benefit concerts for local charities. Two years after her death, her daughter-in-law preserved the studio and surrounding four-acre grounds as a museum. The institution has been in continuous operation since, offering exhibitions and performance programming throughout the summer months.
The Sembrich’s 2024 summer festival “A Century of Sembrich” celebrates Marcella Sembrich’s 100-year legacy on Lake George and features a selection of today’s finest concert artists and ensembles. The 2024 festival starts on June 5 with an exclusive season preview by Opera Saratoga, held in the historic studio museum.
Other performers and guest artists include composer Anthony Davis, whose opera X – The Life and Times of Malcolm X, premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in the fall of 2023; Vincent Caruso, the host of Sirius XM’s Symphony Hall; the cutting-edge wind quintet WindSync; acclaimed Polish violinist Kinga Augustyn; and more. The summer festival offers over 20 events and concludes with a candlelit salon concert by pianist Christopher Johnson and featuring an all-Chopin program.
The museum’s 2024 special exhibition “MASTERING MOZART” explores the four operatic roles by Mozart that launched Marcella Sembrich to enduring international stardom. The exhibition features original costumes worn by Sembrich, photographs, and firsthand accounts of her performances. The exhibition is on view until mid-October.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is Marcella Sembrich’s iconic couture Queen of the Night costume worn for the Met Opera’s first production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute in 1900. The museum recently raised over $70,000 to fund the conservation of this rare piece of musical history, which will be unveiled at a special benefit program “A Night at the Museum” on July 11. In addition to the iconic costume, this narrated one-night-only event will also showcase Sembrich’s collection of jewelry, fine art, and other prized possessions.
For hours, visitor information, and a full schedule of events and exhibitions visit: TheSembrich.org/