Rebeka K.Bobanj

Education

At the age of six, she received piano lessons in the Music School in Subotica and finished her studies when she was fifteen. At the age of seven she started to sing folk songs at the Széchényi István Elementary School, and sang frequently at opening ceremonies and banquets. In 1990, Rebeka won the first prize of the „Szólj Síp Szólj” folk music competition in Vojvodina.

At the age of fifteen she started to learn singing at the Music School in Subotica; her teacher was Emília Baráth, while she was attending Secondary Medical School. After graduating from secondary school, she continued her singing education under Éva Heródek.

She was admitted to the opera singer and teacher course at the Faculty of Music at the University of Szeged in 2006 as the student of Prof. Dr. Mária Temesi. She completed her higher education with outstanding results at the Faculty of Music, University of Szeged in June 2011. She received special commendations in all piano examinations.

Teachers: Dr. Mária Temesi, Adrienne Csengery, István Andrejcsik, Sándor Bárdi, Attila Toronykői, Tamás Pál, Szabolcs Sándor, Krisztina Laky, Katica Várnagyné, Ionel Pantea, Mária Ujváriné Illés, Piroska H. Delleyné and Laslo Stachó.

Singing competitions, master classes

At the age of nine she won first prize in a folk music competition in Vojvodina. In 1992, as the youngest competitor, Rebeka participated in a music festival on the Palić Summer Stage organized by Radio Subotica. She won the special prize of the jury a year later at a regional folk song competition held at the same venue.

She entered and won third prize at the Vojvodina Youth Singing Competition in Temerin in 1997 and 1998. In 1999 she won first prize at the Singing Competition of Music Schools in Serbia.

In 2007 and 2009, she participated in the master classes of Prof. Krisztina Laky and Prof. Ionel Pantea with outstanding results, and entered the International Singing Competition of Gyula. In 2008 Rebeka won third prize at the International Simándy Singing Competition.

In 2010 she participated in the „Ondina Otta” Opera Singers’ Competition in Slovenia, and the next year in the „Francisco Viñas” International Opera Competition in Barcelona. In April 2011 at the International Simándy Singing Competition she received a triple special prize: the opportunity to perform at the Csokonai Theatre in Debrecen, the special prize of the Foundation for Szeged and the special prize of Mária Gregorné Dr. Takács.

Masterclass with Eva Randova and Giacomo Aragall, Germany, Rüsselsheim Theater, 2015.

Performances, roles

Concerts: From 2008, after receiving the third prize at the International Simándy Singing Competition, Rebeka performed at numerous concerts, including the Balaton Theatre in Keszthely, the Palace of Arts in Budapest, the Dóm Cathedral in Szeged, the Christmas Concerts of the Szeged Opera Friends Association and several other places in Budapest.

In February 2010, she performed at a concert in the Town Hall of Subotica. On March 31st 2010, she gave a concert at the Palace of Arts, Glass Hall, Budapest. She also gave concerts in several different programs at the University of Szeged, the National Theatre of Szeged, the Korzó Music House of Szeged and Eötvös Lóránd College.

In December 2010 she performed again in Subotica, at the grand New Year Gala Concert. The next year she sang there at the „Day of Subotica” ceremony. In 2011 she performed in the Erkel-Liszt Youth Concert and at the Palace of Arts, Bartók National Concert Hall, Budapest. In the same year she sang in a concert at the opera house of Darmstadt. She also gave concerts in Darmstadt in 2013, Hemsbach in 2014 and 2015, Rüsselsheim in 2015, and at the Festive Opera Gala in Bad Brückenau on 12 August 2016.

Operas: From 2008 several lead roles followed. At the Miskolc Opera Festival in 2008 Rebeka played Volhova in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sadko, and in 2009 she returned as Celidora in Mozart’s L’oca del Cairo. She sang these roles again at the Cluj Opera Festival, at the Kisszínház of Szeged and at the summer concert series of the Szeged Town Hall.

In Budapest, she was given leading roles in three operas with the Symphonic Orchestra: Mimí in Puccini’s La bohème, Constanza in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia. She sang Rosina in twenty consecutive performances in Budapest, Keszthely, Győr, Tapolca and several other Hungarian cities, and in Nagykanizsa in 2011.

In 2010 Rebeka sang at the opening gala of the Cluj Opera Festival and played the Princess in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, which she sang again at the Miskolc International Opera Festival. In 2011 she performed the role of the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute in Budapest in February and at Szeged Chamber Theatre in July.

In 2012 she debuted at the Hungarian State Opera House as Musette in Puccini’s La bohème, under the baton of Géza Török. In the same year she also sang Musette at the Csokonai Theater of Debrecen, conducted by Gergely Kesselyák.

Media

In 2008, Radio Subotica made an hour-long interview with her and broadcast the arias she sang at the International Simándy Singing Competition that year. In March 2010 she appeared in a talk show on the regional TV channel of the 4th district of Budapest with Mária Temesi.

In July 2010 she performed two arias on national television in a live broadcast: Magda in Puccini’s La Rondine and Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia. In January 2011 Rebeka gave an interview for Radio MR6.

Awards, honours

In 2006 Rebeka won a Ministry Scholarship. In 2008 she was awarded the Scholarship of the Republic for outstanding achievement at the University of Szeged by the Minister of Education and Culture.

The József Sófi Foundation of the University of Szeged awarded her the special commendation of the Board of Trustees in 2009, the special award in 2010 and First Prize of the Foundation in 2011. She received the Award of the Solti Foundation in 2012 in Belgium.