Urszula Kryger
Mezzo-soprano. Graduate of two faculties of the Łódź Academy of Music: instrumental, in the piano class (diploma in 1988) and vocal-acting in the class of Jadwiga Pietraszkiewicz (diploma in 1992). She continued her voice studies in Copenhagen, under André Orlowitz.
In 1992, she won the Stanisław Moniuszko International Young Singer competition in Warsaw, and in 1994, the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Hamburg, as well as the ARD International Music Competition in Munich.
In 1995, she performed at La Scala in Milan, with a recital of songs by Fryderyk Chopin. She sings lyric vocals, chamber pieces, as well as oratorios and cantatas. She has collaborated with distinguished conductors, including Jan Krenz, Jerzy Semkow and Sir Colin Davis.
Urszula Kryger has made many recordings for radio stations in Poland, France, Germany and Switzerland. She recorded songs by Chopin, Loewe, Moniuszko, Szymanowski, Karłowicz and Poulenc. Her album, released in 2001, on which she performed along with Jadwiga Rappé, Jerzy Knetig and Tomasz Herbut, won the Fryderyk Award. In 2004, she recorded a set of songs by Karol Szymanowski with Iwona Sobotka, Piotr Beczała, Juliana Gondek and pianist Reinild Meese – the album was also awarded a Fryderyk Award for Best Album of the Year. In 2006, the artist was awarded the Karol Szymanowski Foundation Award for interpretations of songs by the composer.
Phot. Bartek Barczyk