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32 WWW. UNWLA.ORG “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЛЮТИЙ 2012 U krainian American Youth Association. It was she who convinced my father to send my brother and me to Lidia Krushelnycka’s “Studiya Mystec koho Slova” in New York City. She was a savvy, spicy, romantic , and passionate individual who believed in her childre n’s abilities. My father didn’t have a chance against my mother’s dream for her son to become an opera star , and even tually the search began to find Stefan a vocal in structor. Lidia Krushelnycka, perceptive of Stefan’s wonderful voice, enlisted him in a small vocal role in her production of Oy Ne Khody Hrychu . Pani Lidia’s first passion in life was opera, but a terrible asthma prevented her from pursuing it as a career. Instead, she became a stage diva of the theat er . Both Stefan and I felt very lucky to be a part of her drama school and to experience her love of acting. She taught us diction and stage pre sence, and on many occasions, I too had op - por tunities to perform recitations dur ing Ukrain ian National holiday com memorations within and beyond th e tri - state area and during summers while employed at the Ukrainian Na - tional Asso cia tion’s resort, Soyu zivka. It was through her that we learned about Maestro Eugene Krachno , and with her referral , Stefan began his profes sional voice training. While attending college, I managed to hold down an insig ni - ficant part - time job. I used the money I made to buy my brother and myself tickets to many wondrous evening programs at The Metropolitan Opera and musical perfor mances on Broadway. After the voice or d rama lessons, we’d hop over to The Metropolitan Opera box office or to a theat er on Broadway to buy standing room tickets for under $10 each. After the first act, we would sneak into the orchestra seats to finish out watching the opera or the theat er perfo rmance completely enveloped by the magic on stage. The Baritone voices would appeal to us the most as that is where Stefan started out as a young boy. Later, his voice de - veloped com pletely, making him the resound ing Bass that he is today. Each movement, each gesture, each note of the performer was mes - merizing. At the end, Stefan and I would leave and pause outside in front of the billboard, envisioning his picture there one day as the lead Bass singer. Under the tutelage of Maestro Krahno, Stefan was t he youngest performer to give a solo concert at the renowned Carnegie Recital Hall on February 3, 1974. At the early age of 17 , his reper - toir e contained pieces from celebrated composers such as Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, Verdi, Kos - senko, Stepovy , and o thers. The hall that night was packed. The audience was overwhelmed by Stefan’s performance , and it took three encores to finally appease them and allow Stefan to conclude the program. My mother and I were so proud. That evening, even our ten - year old sist er Lillian - na cried tears of joy. Since those days, my brother the opera singer has performed in many acclaimed houses throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, and was featured in several concert tours throughout Asia. Often forgetting that he was in a different time zone, he would call me in the middle of the night. I knew he felt lonely sitting in a hotel room during his breaks between rehearsals and performances. So I would listen at two or three o’clock in the morning as he told me a ll about his performances that week, as well as about the other singers he was meeting. He would send me newspaper clippings of the reviews written by opera critics: As Filippo in Don Carlo : " Stefan Szkafarow sky sang a dynamically rea - lized Filippo, disp laying sure command of mellifluous instrument ." - Opera News. As Zaccaria in Nabucco : " Stefan Szka farowsky, by contrast, infused the prophet Zaccarias with a burning in - tensity that lifted the level of the show whenever he was on stage ." - The Hart - ford C ourant. As Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor : " Woods' performance was backed by several very strong performances... Stefan Szkafarowsky as Raimondo... whose thundering judgments are like a classic chorus. " - Newsday. Everyone praised his voice and predicte d a pro - mising future. This was his life’s dream coming true , and it was all thanks to his grammar school nuns and our mother. On February 17, 22, 25 and March 2 and 8 of 2012 , Stefan will be going back to the very first opera house that he and I ever vis ited. This time , however, he will not be sitting in the audien - ce. Instead, the visions from almost 40 years ago are coming true. Stefan will be on stage as the Bass lead in the role of the Bonze at The Metro - politan Opera’s presentation of Puccini’s Madam e Butterfly with Placido Domingo as Conductor. As I make my plans to attend one of the performances, I am tempted to purchase a stand - ing room orchestra ticket just for old time’s sake. Bravo Stefane!!!! Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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