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The Polish soprano, Dorota Szczepańska, began her education at music school in Warsaw with guitar as main instrument, also playing piano and singing in a choir. Her vocal education started in 2005 when she was admitted to The Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw - the class of Małgorzata Marczewska. She graduated studies with Distinction and continued her vocal education with Teresa Księżak, Zofia Witkowska, Claudia Visca in Vienna. She has also graduated the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover under the artistic guidance of Marek Rzepka as a student of Soloklasse and Kammermusik Liedgestaltung working with Jan Philip Schulze. She participated in many master-classes working with Peter Berne, Anita Garanča, Eva Blahová, James Oxley, Dirk Snellings, Anna Radziejewska, Artur Stefanowicz, Jadwiga Rappé and others.
Dorota Szczepańska specializes primarily in the music of the Baroque and Classicism. She willingly performs chamber music and has also sung many world premieres of works by contemporary composers, as well as recordings of film music. In addition, she boldly goes beyond the "classical area", successfully performing popular, experimental music, not avoiding improvisation and jazz. She has sung, among others, the main part in Semele by George Frideric Handel conducted by Howard Arman and Maria’s part in Lazarus by F. Schubert conducted by Trevor Pinnock during Potsdamer Winteroper. She performed at the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm with Christina Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata and recorded the title role in Stradella’s opera La Circe for ARCANA at Festival Barocco Alessandro Stradella together with Ensemble Mare Nostrum, Mauro Borgioni conducted by Andrea de Carlo. She also performed La Madre in the San Giovanni Battista alongside Topi Lehtipuu and Sylvia Frigato at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova. The concert was chosen IL MEGLIO DEL 2021 by OperaClick – one of the best events of 2021.
Dorota Szczepańska also played the role of Cuzzoni in the performance Cuzzoni & Bordoni, Rival Queens singing together with Anna Radziejewska under the musical direction of Lilianna Stawarz. She participated in two world premieres of Baroque operas: she appeared as Tamiri in Semiramide riconosciuta by L. Vinci conducted by Marco Vitale with the Royal Baroque Ensemble in The Royal Theater - Old Orangery at the Baroque Opera Festival Dramma Per Musica in Warsaw and as Segimiro in Arminio by Johann Adolf Hasse together with {oh!} Orkiestra Historyczna under the direction of Martyna Pastuszka in Praque. She performed also as Palmide in Argenore by W. von Bayreuth conducted by Justus Thorau in the Schlosstheater Rheinsberg, as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro by W.A. Mozart conducted by Andrzej Borzym jr, Arsena in The Gypsy Baron by J. Strauss conducted by Piotr Wujtewicz and Vespetta in Pimpinone by Georg Philipp Telemann in Telemann’s Festival.
In 2015 Dorota Szczepańska recorded music for the ballet Stín by B. Martinů with Ian Hobson and Sinfonia Varsovia in The Witold Lutoslawski Concert Studio. In 2016 she recorded Ave Maria by Krzysztof. A. Janczak with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lee Reynolds and in 2019 Amen together with Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dean Pavlov. She recorded two cds with reconstructed works by Giovanni Simone Mayr (1763-1845) together with Concerto de Bassus issued by Naxos and the title role in Stradella’s opera La Circe for Aracana, at Festival Barocco Alessandro Stradella with Ensemble Mare Nostrum, Mauro Borgioni conducted by Andrea de Carlo. The album will be released soon. In 2019 she recorded Słopiewnie by Karol Szymanowski with Justus Zeyen. In 2021, she recorded J.A. Hasse’s works with Mädchenchor Hannover under the baton of Andreas Felber. The album will be released soon. Early 2022 saw the release of the first studio EP of Lamento Project created together with Alon Sariel and Peter Schwebs. She performed at the Transatlantyk Festival on the invitation of Jan A.P. Kaczmarek together with Transatlantyk Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maciej Sztor. In 2019 she recorded music for the Canal+ series "Zasada przyjemności" composed by Michał Lorenc. She also recorded music for the film Stolen harvest, together with the Polish Radio Orchestra, Even Mice Belong in Heaven (the film still wins many prestigious awards) and Black Sheep by Krzysztof A. Janczak.
Dorota Szczepańska participated in numerous concerts and festivals. She performed at the Opera Rara Festival where she performed, among others Alban Berg's Lyrical Suite with the Airis String Quartet and a recital with Marek Toporowski, Festival Barocco Alessandro Stradella, Segni Barocci Foligno, Kromer Festival Biecz singing the role of Arianna in Haydn's Arianna a Naxos alongside Martyna Pastuszka and the {oh!} Orkiestra Historyczna. Streaming from this concert was broadcast by TVP Kultura. At the Festival Dramma per Musica, Baroque Factory Festival, Lied Festival in Hannover, Allgemein Festlicher Musiksommer Festival in Ingolstadt, at the Festival Allegro Vivo in Horn with Brno Tschechische Philharmonie Orchestra conducted by Bijan Khadem-Missagh. At the Festival Polish Colours organized by the Łódź Philharmonie. At the Telemann’s Festival. At the Jan Kiepura Festival with Krynicka Orkiestra Zdrojowa conducted by Mieczysław Smyda. At the Festival Legnickie Conversatorium Organowe singing Magnificat by Michał Sławecki at the final concert together with Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Slawomir Bronk and Rapsod by Stanisław Moryto conducted by Szymon Morus. She took part in the project of Warsaw Chamber Opera Mozart Off which is a part of the Mozart Festival and many others.
Dorota Szczepańska performed many sacred and oratorio works like Requiem by W.A. Mozart conducted by Ewa Strusińska with Sinfonia Varsovia as well as in NOSPR together with {oh!} Orkiestra Historyczna, Martyna Pastuszka and The Marian Consort (Director: Rory McCleery), the soprano part in J.S. Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium (), conducted by Dirk Vermeulen in cooperation with the Warsaw Chamber Opera., Die Jahreszeiten by J. Haydn as Hanne with The Symphony Orchestra of the Lower Silesia Philharmonic conducted by Jerzy Swoboda in a project funded by the EU "Haydn at the Euroregion Neisse", „Gloria” by Antonio Vivaldi conducted by Wojciech Rodek with The Symphony Orchestra of Rzeszów Philharmonic, The Great Mass in C Minor by W.A. Mozart performed in IX Triduum Caecilianum with The Symphony Orchestra of Karol Namyslowski conducted by Tadeusz Wicherek, Stabat Mater by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, La Resurrezione by G.F. Handel as Maddalena, Juditha Triumphans as Vagaus by A. Vivaldi with Capella dell’Ospedale della Pieta conducted by Stefan Plewniak, Arianna a Naxos by Haydn with Martyna Pastuszka and {oh!} Orkiestra Historyczna during the Kromer Festival Biecz, as Salome in San Giovanni Battista by A. Stradella with Gradus ad Parnassum conducted by Andrea de Carlo and many other works.
In collaboration with composer Grzegorz Duchnowski, Dorota Szczepańska performed Missa pro peccatis mundi (The International Festival of Organ and Chamber Music in Leżajsk), the world premiere of Missa de Angelis (2012), in 2014 the world premiere of Fuga dłoni at the National Philharmonic together with the Chamber Orchestra of the National Philharmonic conducted by Jakub Chrenowicz, in 2015 the world premiere of W malinowym chruśniaku at the Festival of Premieres in the seat of Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, and in 2016 the world premiere of Stabat Mater together with the Gorzów Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Monika Wolińska. She performed the world premiere of Unter der Wurzel der Distel composed by Steffen Schleiermacher at the 74. Sommerliche Musiktage Festival in w Hitzacker and during the concert in Semperoper Dresden.
Dorota Szczepańska took part in two academic productions performed at The National Opera Teatr Wielki in Warsaw as Anna in Bunt Żaków by T. Szeligowski conducted by Łukasz Borowicz and at The Warsaw Chamber Opera as Clarice in L’amante di tutte by B. Galuppi conducted by Tadeusz Karolak. As part of her studies, she also performed Maddalena in La Resurrezione by G.F. Handel under the direction of Agata Sapiecha and Anna Radziejewska.
Her repertoire also includes other music styles, as well as jazz compositions, songs and musicals. She created Lamento Project with Alon Sariel (archlute) and Peter Schwebs (double-bass), in which Baroque music is intertwined with popular music in the lamento trend. In 2022, the first EP of the project was released. She performed at the famous Filharmonia Dowcipu and at the Fun & Classic festival, performing a recital with Waldemar Malicki. She presented herself at a concert at the Syrena Theater alongside Jacek Kawalec, performing together with Piotr Rafałko and the Romantica orchestra songs of the interwar period. She also participated in the project "Kasia and Pippi on the trail" at the Lutoslawski Concert Studio of Polish Radio, performing alongside Katarzyna Stankiewicz, Dominika Kluźniak, Katarzyna Stoparczyk and Sambor Dudziński. In 2021, she performed a premiere of the concert inspired by the music of Dawid Bajgelman to the spectacle Dybuk – Between two worlds by Tomasz Pokrzywiński at the New Theater in Łódź, singing alongside Bartosz Dworak (violin), Jerzy Rogiewicz (drums) and Bartek Tyciński (guitar). She currently lives in Hannover, Germany. |
