Performers

Born in 2001, he graduated from primary music school in Płońsk, and continued his education with Joanna Ławrynowicz-Just and Marek Bracha (piano), Beata Popis (harpsichord), Anna Misior (chamber music), and Jarosław Wróblewski (organ) in the Zenon Brzewski Music School in Warsaw.

Countertenor, graduate of the Department of Vocal Studies of Warsaw’s Chopin University of Music (class of Artur Stefanowicz). While still a student, he made his debut in Johann Strauss II’s operetta The Revenge of the Bat at Szczecin’s Opera at the Castle. Well known and highly regarded for his interpretations of contemporary classical music, he has collaborated with such composers as Paweł Mykietyn, Bartosz Chajdecki, Maciej Zieliński, and Andrzej Zarycki.

A philologist, author of prose and poetry, translator, professor of the human sciences. His special fields are literary theory as well as the history of British and American literatures. An eminent intellectual, ranking among the elite of Polish humanist authors, he has published texts in such periodicals as ‘Brulion’, ‘Odra’, ‘Res Publica Nowa’, and ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’, as well as regularly contributing to ‘Tygodnik Powszechny’.

Having graduated from a construction industry high school in Białystok and in architecture from the Warsaw University of Technology, she eventually decided to dedicate herself to a singing career. She studied voice with Magdalena Halfter in secondary school and at Warsaw’s State Higher School of Music (1955–1960). Simultaneously she performed as a soloist in the Polish Army Song and Dance Ensemble.

She took piano lessons with Maria Drzewiecka at Toruń Conservatory and later with Henryk Sztompka. In 1939 she settled in Kraków, where in 1945 she took up studies with Sztompka at the State Higher School of Music and developed her abilities for several years under Zbigniew Drzewiecki. In 1949 she won the 11th place in the 4th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
Smendzianka mainly focused on Polish music (Chopin, Janiewicz, Krogulski, Ogiński, Szymanowska, F. Lessel, Zarębski, and contemporary composers).

A singer, guitarist, and songwriter, author of short stories and other prose, as well as music composer, Sołtys is known for his work in Vavamuffin band, solo performances as Pablopavo and with Ludziki collective, as well as numerous collaborations with hip-hop, reggae, dub, jazz, and dancehall musicians.

A leading Polish jazz pianist, graduate of Boston’s Berklee College of Music (1987–1990, Oscar Peterson Prize winner), semi-finalist of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition in Washington, and member of the orchestra led by the legendary clarinettist Artie Shaw.

A theatre, film, and radio actress, graduate of the Acting Studio at the Gdańsk Wybrzeże (Coastal) Theatre. In 2011 the artist was decorated with the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis.