P.D. Soros Fellowship for New Americans

KINGA SKRETKOWICZ-FERGUSON is the executive director of Ars Lyrica Houston, Grammy-nominated early music ensemble that has become a mainstay of the classical music scene in Houston and gained an international reputation for its distinctive programming of music from the seventeenth and eighteen centuries. Born in Poland and educated in France and the United States, Kinga has always been passionate about the performing arts, international cooperation, and cultural diversity. 

As a young singer, Kinga traveled throughout Europe and South America with the award-winning chamber choir, Con Vigore, and became its first touring manager. While studying English and music at the Lodz University in Poland, she worked as an interpreter for the Grand Opera Theater, Polish Radio and Television, and the International Ballet Festival. Kinga also worked as international relations officer at the Lodz University of Music and interned with the Jacques Thelen Agency and European Artistic Management in Paris. Kinga received a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans while studying voice at Indiana University, where she also served as an administrator for the USA International Harp Competition. From 2002 to 2007, she sang with the Chicago Opera Theater, whose innovative presentations of Baroque and contemporary opera continue to inspire her. 

Kinga went on to receive her Master of Music in Voice and Performance Diploma from Indiana University, Bloomington. She also earned an MA in English from the University of Lodz and an MBA from the University of Lyon. While studying music and arts management in Poland, France, and the United States, Kinga became interested in the convergence of nonprofit arts management, international cooperation, and the performing arts. 

Bringing with her the cosmopolitan perspective that came from extensive travel and study abroad, Kinga arrived in Houston in 2006 and sought a position in arts management in the city’s vibrant music community. She joined Ars Lyrica Houston as its first executive director in 2007 and took charge of building a global community in which artists and audiences connect through shared experiences that deepen our humanity and respect for diverse cultures.

Under Kinga’s leadership the organization quickly transformed into a thriving mid-size non-profit with dynamic global audiences, meaningful community programming, and an increasingly prominent local and international profile, including a Grammy Nomination for Best Opera in 2011.

Kinga is a recipient of the 2019 CKW LUXE Top 20 CEOs and Entrepreneurs Award and continues her philanthropic and arts advocacy work with Texans for the Arts, ENGAGE Houston, 

Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary, and Opera America. She lives in Houston’s Montrose neighbourhood with her husband and two children.