Świderek-Żakiewicz, Aleksandra

Soprano. She graduated from the Vocal and Acting Department of the F. Chopin University of Music in Warsaw after studies with Bożena Betley. She also studied with Edith Lienbacher at the Universitat für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. Prize-winner in vocal competitions such as the Ada Sari International Vocal Art Competition in Nowy Sącz, the International “Vox Artis” Voice Competition in Sibiu, the International G. Perotti Singing Competition in Ueckermünde, and the Krystyna Jamroz National Vocal Competition in Kielce (Grand Prix). Recipient of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage Award in 2013. She was also one of the three selected artists (in the music category) in the artNoble competition for the best graduates of artistic schools and universities in Poland. In May 2012 she made her debut in the Młynarski Hall of the Grand Theatre – National Opera in Warsaw as Tytania in a student production of Benjamin Britten’s a Midsummer's Night Dream. Previously, in 2005–7, she had been a soloist at the Grand Theatre in Łódź, where she appeared as Juliet in Benjamin Britten’s children’s opera The Little Sweep. Aleksandra Świderek-Żakiewicz also performs large-scale vocal-instrumental and chamber music on the concert stage. She has appeared, among others, at the Schlosstheater Schönbrunn in Vienna, the State Philharmonic of Sibiu, Łódź Philharmonic, as well as at the 1st Festival of Baroque Operas “Dramma per Musica” and the Mozart Festival in Warsaw and frequently participated in the Warsaw Cultural Education Centre’s (SCEK) “Musical Matinees” programme, which promotes classical music among children in Poland’s capital. Children’s music education (singing) was also the subject of her master’s thesis. She has taken part in master classes taught by Edith Lienbacher, Niels Muus, Robert Simma (opera performance), Eytan Pessen, Iwona Hossa (contemporary music), and Anna Radziejewska early music). She has received scholarships from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Internationale Sommerakademie PragWienBudapest, Ministry of National Education and the Marshal of the Łódź Province.