The Golden Voices of Slovenian Opera in Cleveland

Slovenian American Heritage Foundation 2009 Lecture Series

Cecilia Dolgan and Joe Valencic 

7:00 PM – Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Slovenian Society Home (Lower Hall)
20713 Recher Avenue, Euclid, Ohio

The Slovenian-American Heritage Foundation invites all to attend the fourth talk in our 2009 Lecture Series.  The Foundation is extremely pleased that Cecilia Dolgan and Joe Valencic will discuss the Slovenian community of Cleveland’s rich history of opera performance.  The program, which is free and open to the public, will take place on Tuesday, May 5th at 7:00 PM in the Lower Hall of the Slovenian Society Home, 20713 Recher Avenue in Euclid.  A coffee and strudel social will follow the lecture.

Opera played a key role in the Slovenian cultural scene in Cleveland from the 1920s into the 1960s.  Full-scale opera productions, performed in the Slovenian language, enthralled audiences with masterful singing enhanced by costumes, scenery and orchestral accompaniment.  While opera was largely inaccessible to most people in Slovenia, Slovenian music-lovers in Cleveland enjoyed several stagings each year.  Cecilia Dolgan and Joe Valencic will present a program on the golden era of Slovenian opera in Cleveland with rare recordings and vintage photographs.  You'll learn about memorable productions, such as Carmen, La Traviata and Il Trovatore, and the voices who brought these works to life, including Eddie Kenik, June Price, Mary Ivanusch and Anton Schubel.

Cecilia "Cilka" Dolgan was a young performer with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus when she appeared in her first Slovenian opera in Cleveland.  She played lead roles in operas at Severance Hall and the Cleveland Institute of Music.  Cilka has been singing and recording ever since.  She directed the SNPJ Slovenian Junior Chorus for many years and is now the President of the American Slovenian Polka Foundation and its National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame.

Joe Valencic writes, lectures and produces documentaries on Slovenian-American History.  His multimedia program on Slovenian music in America has been presented across Slovenia.  In January his music research was featured in hour-long show on TV Slovenija.  As a child, Joe also appeared at Severance Hall with Lake Erie Opera.  He serves as the president or officer of several Slovenian-American societies and is a founding trustee and historian of the Polka Hall of Fame.

Anthony W. Hiti, President
Slovenian American Heritage Foundation