prof. dr hab. Katarzyna Oleś-Blacha
Music artist, coloratura soprano. In 2001, she graduated with honours from the Academy of Music in Krakow in the Singing and Acting Department under the supervision of Prof. Wojciech Jan Śmietana. She has been perfecting her vocal skills during numerous master classes led by many outstanding teachers and singers such as Paul Esswood, Anne Raynolds, Lioba Braun, Christian Elssner and Ryszard Karczykowski.
She is a laureate of many national and international competitions and festivals, i.e. in 2010 she received the 3rd prize in the category of female voices in the 7th International Stanislaw Moniuszko Vocal Competition in Warsaw and in 2012 she was honoured with the Jan Kiepura Theatre Music Prize in the “Best Female Singer” category. In July 2014 she became the winner of the Malopolska Region “Ars Quaerendi” award for outstanding actions in promotion and popularization of culture.
She is the soloist of the Krakow Opera where she made her debut in 2001 with the Queen of the Night part in Die Zauberflöte by Mozart.
Especially significant roles in the artist’s achievements include: Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini), Gilda (Rigoletto by Verdi), Roksana (King Roger by Szymanowski), Fiorilla (Il Turco in Italia by Rossini), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos by R. Strauss), Violetta (La Traviata by Verdi), Olimpia, Antonia, Giulietta and Stella (Les Contes d’Hoffmann by Offenbach) and most often performed role of the Queen of the Night (Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte). With Lucia’s part (Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti) she made her debut at the National Opera in Warsaw.
He cooperates with opera theatres in Poland and abroad. She has made several tours in Austria, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland with the opera ensembles from Bydgoszcz, Lodz, Gdansk and Szczecin, performing in such halls as Bregenz Festspiel und Kongresshaus in Hannover, Berlin Philharmonie, The Philharmonie in Munich, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Rotterdamse Schouwburg in Rotterdam.
Her artistic output comprises over 30 operatic, operetta and musical leading roles which she has performed in 50 different premiere performances, festival and repertoire productions of many opera theatres in Poland and abroad.
In the area of artistic interest of Katarzyna Oleś-Blacha there is also oratorio, cantata and chamber music. The proof of this is constituted by numerous concerts (e.g. Kraków, Warsaw, Wroclaw, Szczecin, Katowice, Stuttgart, Wolfsburg, Innsbruck, Linz, Hannover, Berlin, Munich, Regensburg, Fulda, Graz, Strasbourg, Shanghai, Al Kuwait).
She has made numerous recordings for the Polish Radio and Television, including the extremely rare “Concerto for Soprano and Orchestra” by Z. Kassern which was repeatedly presented in the Channel 2 of the Polish Radio.
She is a pedagogue of the Academy of Music in Krakow where she conducts the class of solo singing. In September 2006 she was conferred the doctor’s degree and in July 2014 – the postdoctoral degree in music – vocal art. She conducts master classes for the youth and young students of the vocal art.