She graduated from the Lieder class and the vocal class of Jadwiga Rappé at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. She has received numerous scholarships including from the Polish Minister of Culture, Pro Polonia, ISA2012, Young Poland (2014), was nominated for Polityka monthly’s Paszport award (2010, 2012), and received the Magna cum Laude medal for her University’s best graduate. She now is completing a PhD at the same academy. Her accolades include notably the 2nd Prize in the Halina Halska Competition in Wrocław (2009), 3rd Prize and Special Prize at the Karol Szymanowski Competition in Łódź (2009), 1st Prize and three special prizes at the Reszke Competition in Częstochowa (2011), Special Prize at the Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition in Vienna (2011), and 1st Prize, Giuseppe Sinopoli Award and Frankfurt Opera Special Award at the J:opera / isa 12. She was also a finalist at the Viotti Competition in Vercelli in 2012.
As a member of the Alla Polacca choir at the Grand Theatre–National Opera in Warsaw, she has performed in Paderewski’s Manru, La bohème, Tosca and Turandot by Puccini, Moniuszko’s Śpiewnik domowy, Masseret'sWerther, and many other works.
In 2010, she performed at the Warsaw Autumn Festival, leading to engagements at festivals such as Aix-en-Provence and Contrechamps in Geneva. In 2011, she appeared at the UNESCO in Paris. The same year, she made her debut as Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème (Poland), Vénus and Phrygienne in Rameau’s Dardanus (Ireland and Great Britain), and Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte (Poland; she also sang that role in Seville’s Teatro Lope de Vega). She has also performed the part of Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust at the Estonian National Opera.
Joanna Freszel has also appeared in concert with ensembles such as Sinfonia Iuventus (Mahler’s Symphony no. 4), Białystok Opera and Philharmonic (Mozart’s Requiem directed by Jerzy Maksymiuk), Silesian Philharmonic (Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 under Jerzy Salwarowski), Capella Bydgostiensis (Bach’s Mass in B minor), Szczecin Philharmonic (Berg’s Seven Early Songs), Cracow Philharmonic (Mozart’s Mass in C minor under Michał Dworzyński), and Camerata Viva Symphony Orchestra (Górecki’s Symphony no. 3). During a tour of Ukraine, she performed Lutosławski’s Chantefleurs et chantefables with the philharmonic orchestras of Lviv, Odessa, Chernihiv, Donetsk, and Dnipropetrovsk. She has also worked with the Silesian Quartet during the festival Silesian Quartet and Guests, and has presented (with pianist Mariusz Rutkowski) the music of Britten at the Saaremaa Opera Days in Estonia.
At the Centre for Contemporary Art–Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, she has performed George Crumb’s Federico’s Little Songs and Madrigals, Book II and Uri Caine’s In Memoriam (with the AUKSO Orchestra under Marek Moś). During the Sinfonia Varsovia festival, she has sung the works of Alicja Gronau, Aleksander Kościów, and Zofia Dowgiałło (with the proMODERN ensemble). She has also sung Wojciech Kilar’s Missa pro pace (with the Kielce Philharmonic under Jacek Rogala). She has performed twice at the new venue of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice.
