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American operatic bass (born 1967) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Valerian Ruminski (born 1967) is an American operatic bass. He is the founder and artistic director of Nickel City Opera, in Buffalo, New York.[1][2]
Valerian Ruminski | |
---|---|
Born | Martin Matthew Ruminski 1967 |
Occupation | Opera singer (bass) |
Years active | 1999 – present |
Martin Matthew Ruminski, known professionally as Valerian Ruminski, was born in Lackawanna, New York, and raised in Cheektowaga. He was adopted by Mary and Valerian Ruminski. As a child he sang in the St. Paul's Cathedral Men and Boys Choir and later in the Canisius High School choir. He studied music at SUNY Buffalo earning a Bachelor of Music degree in 1995. He continued his vocal training at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia,where he also participated in summer apprenticeships with Santa Fe Opera and Chautauqua Opera. He adopted the professional name "Valerian" in honor of his late fathe.[3][4]
In 1999 Ruminski was signed by the New York City Opera to sing in Bizet's Carmen. Following his audition, he was recognized by Beverly Sills for the 1999 Lincoln Center Martin Segal Award. The following year he received a Career Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation and won the First Prize in the MacAllister Singing Competition. The judges at the MacAllister Competition were impressed by the unusual pieces Ruminski chose to present—arias from Ambroise Thomas's little-known opera Le caïd and The Tempest, a baroque work attributed to Purcell.[5][6][7][8]
He made his Metropolitan Opera debut on 17 January 2001 as Zuniga in Carmen. He later sang there as Gualtiero in I puritani (2006–2007) and Nikitich in Boris Godunov (2010–2011).[9] In the course of his operatic career, Ruminski has sung in many opera houses in the United States and Canada. Early in his career he also appeared in Israel with the New Israeli Opera and in Monaco with the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.[3][10]
In 2004 Ruminski founded Nickel City Opera, a small opera company based in Buffalo, New York. The company's first production, The Barber of Seville, was staged in 2009 at the Riviera Theatre. Nickel City Opera staged Puccini's Il Tabarro in 2011 on the decommissioned USS The Sullivans, docked at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park and the world premiere of SHOT! in 2016 at Shea's Theatre in downtown Buffalo. From 2017 the company began touring their productions and concerts in the Buffalo metropolitan area.[11][12]
Ruminski's performances in Nickel City Opera's productions have included Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville (2009), Colline in La bohème (2011), Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro (2015), and William McKinley in the world premiere of SHOT! (2016). In addition to his performances, Ruminski has co-directed some of the company's productions and in 2014 also directed the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra's production of Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle, featuring the glass sculptures of Dale Chihuly.[13][14]
In 2017, Ruminski received Opera America's Bravo Service Award, whose recipients "promote opera in their communities and work tirelessly to ensure the highest possible artistic quality and community service."[15]
Ruminski's opera performances have included, among others:
Ruminski's concert and recital performances have included, among others:
Ruminski's recordings include:
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