KATARZYNA DONDALSKA – soprano
Katarzyna Dondalska is fast becoming one of the most sought-after coloratura sopranos of her generation, performing classic roles such as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Welsh National Opera and Queen of the Night Die Zauberflöte in opera houses across the world, from Houston to Cardiff. She has also made numerous television and stage appearances, including a tour of the West Coast of the USA, performing a wide range of music from opera to popular song.
She begins her 2009-10 season as Constanze in Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. In 2009 she sang the Queen of the Night in Der Zauberfloete with the Korean National Opera and with the opera in theater in Szczeczin, Poland plus Viennese concerts on New Year’s Day in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario. In 2008 she was seen with the Koln Philharmonic in concert performances of Strauss’ The Gypsy Baron, the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari she sang Nanetta in Falstaff, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna as Lucia di Lammermoor and as the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana and Viennese concert tours of Canada and Germany. In 2007 she appeared in Cagliari as Blondchen in Entfuhrung and as The Nightingale in Braunfels Die Vogel and continued her Salute to Vienna concert tour to the Kennedy Center, Baltimore. Munich and Berlin. Other recent performances have included Zauberfloete with the Netherlands Opera and the Welsh National Opera and Mozart’s Zaide with the Hamburg Camerata.
Her musical career began at the age of five - on the violin. After studying at the Academy of Music in Olsztyn, the singer, who was born in Bydgoszcz, continued her education at the Academy of Music at Würzburg, Germany. With the guidance and encouragement of her professors Grigori Zhislin (violin) and Jutta Bucelis-Dehn (singing) she received diplomas in violin and singing - both with distinction.
During subsequent studies with internationally renowned artists such as Sylvia Geszty, and the successful participation in international music contests such as the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, the International Francesco Viñas Contest in Barcelona, the Sylvia Geszty Singing Contest for Coloraturas and the International ARD Music Competition, she has continued to develop and perfect her exceptional artistic personality.