10 Facts About Andrij Dobriansky

Andrij Dobriansky was a principal artist with the Metropolitan Opera for 30 years where he sang over 60 roles in over 900 performances.

Andrij Dobriansky was born in 1930 on the outskirts of Lviv, during the interbellum period of rule by the Second Polish Republic.

Andrij Dobriansky's father, Agaton Dobriansky, was a Ukrainian officer and veteran of both the Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen and the Ukrainian People's Army, and his mother, Teodora, was a violinist at the Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet.

Andrij Dobriansky finished his secondary education in a displaced persons camp near Heidenau.

Andrij Dobriansky made his professional singing debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company on November 10,1964.

Andrij Dobriansky performed the role of Jake Wallace, a traveling camp minstrel, in Puccini's La fanciulla del West.

Andrij Dobriansky made his Metropolitan Opera Company debut in on 11 February 1970 in Puccini's La fanciulla del West, this time in the role of the miner Happy.

Andrij Dobriansky can be heard on many archived Metropolitan Opera broadcasts and telecasts, including the company's first pay-per-view broadcast of its gala performance celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center.

Andrij Dobriansky performed with many symphony orchestras and opera companies, including the Seattle Opera, the Boston Opera, the Newport Music Festival, the Berkshire Opera, and the Chautauqua Music Festival.

For decades, he performed as a soloist with the New York-based Dumka chorus and served as artistic director and consultant to many Ukrainian musical productions, including the Ukrainian Composers Series at the Town Hall and the Ukrainian Institute of America, From 1980 until his death, Andrij Dobriansky was a liturgical cantor as well as the conductor of the Andrey Sheptytsky choir at Saint George Ukrainian Catholic Church in New York's Little Ukraine.