On October 20 at 12 pm EDT, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York presents a live-streamed ceremony opening an exhibition in Vienna honoring the stage and film careers of the opera and operetta stars Jan Kiepura and Marta Eggerth. The opening event will be streamed on Youtube.
For media only, a live press conference and Q&A begins at 1 pm EDT, via Zoom. In addition to a discussion with Mr. Kiepura, Mr. Benson, and Susanne Korbel (curator of the exhibition), vintage film clips will be shown. Contact MaryKat Hoeser to request an invitation.
The noon livestream includes events in both Vienna and New York. From Vienna, Ramon Vargas of the Vienna Staatsoper performs, and Wolfgang Sobotka (President of the Austrian Parliament) gives a welcome statement. From ACFNY in New York, Marjan Kiepura (son of Eggerth and Kiepura), shares stories of family life in conversation with ACFNY Director Michael Haider and opera scholar Ken Benson. A clip from the 1949 film Valse Brilliante will be shown. The entire opening event will be in English.
The exhibition at the University of Music and Performance in Vienna (mdw) honors the stage and film careers of Jan Kiepura and Marta Eggerth, who together escaped Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938, having created a musical legacy that would revolutionize opera and operetta.