Monika Wolińska
In 2020, Monika Wolińska received the ‘Gloria Artis’ medal for services to Polish culture from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, and in 2013 a ‘More Beautiful Poland in the European Union’ diploma awarded to individuals creating beauty that Poland can boast of around the world. She has also received a Kazimierz Andrzej Jarowski Award for her artistic work (diploma and silver statuette) from the Mayor of Chełm (2018).
She has conducted renowned ensembles in Poland and abroad. Her appearance at New York’s Carnegie Hall was the first time a female Polish conductor had ever stood on the rostrum for a concert at that venue (2009). Her conducting has been aptly described by David Dubal, who praised her ‘great sensitivity to the actual sound of the instruments in the orchestra’.
With Sinfonia Varsovia, she has recorded a CD featuring the complete symphonic poems by the Polish composer Eugeniusz Morawski-Dąbrowa, nominated for a Fryderyk 2013 award from the Polish record industry.
She made her debut at the Lucerne Festival in 2004, working under the guidance of Pierre Boulez. She has also conducted a concert featuring Thomas Hampson, one of the most outstanding baritones of our times, who accepted her invitation to give his first performance in Poland (2014).
She graduated from the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music, where she studied violin with Henryk Bałaban and conducting of vocal-instrumental ensembles with Janusz Stanecki, and also from the Warsaw Academy of Music (now: Fryderyk Chopin University of Music), where she studied symphonic-operatic conducting with Ryszard Dudek, as well as completing postgraduate studies in management on University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Management. She participated in conducting courses led by such maestri as Pierre Boulez, Kurt Masur, Antoni Wit and Gabriel Chmura. For many years she was an assistant conductor to Jerzy Semkow and Krzysztof Penderecki (2007/2008). She has also held a scholarship from the Hart Institute for Women Conductors at the Dallas Opera (2017).
Monika Wolińska is also a professor of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, where she teaches symphonic-operatic conducting and is also head of the department.
[2022]