Iwona Sobotka achieved instant international acclaim as Grand Prix winner of the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium in 2004. Other awards include first prizes at the East & West Artists International Auditions in New York, the Warsaw Polish Art Song Competion and the Paderewski Competion in Bydgoszcz.

Ms. Sobotka has performed all over Europe, in the Americas, and Japan, visiting such prestigious venues as the Vienna Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall, Salle Pleyel, Wigmore Hall, the Palais de Beaux Arts in Brussels, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and at the Shostakovich Grand Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg.

Ms. Sobotka has worked with such distinguished conductors as Sir Colin Davis, Sir Simon Rattle, Sylvain Cambreling, Gabriel Chmura, Thomas Hengelbrock, Jacek Kaspszyk, Jerzy Maksymiuk and Antoni Wit. She has performed with the Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris, the Vienna Symphony, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Orchestre Symphonique de la Monnaie, Orchestra della Fondazione Arturo Toscanini, Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, Staatskapelle Weimar, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and all of the major Polish orchestras.

In the 2007/2008 season Ms. Sobotka made her début at the Opéra national de Paris as Ygraine in Paul Dukas’ Ariane et Barbe-Bleue. The same production toured Japan in summer 2008. The following season she returned to Paris as First Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and also made her first appearance with the Polish National Opera in Warsaw as Zuzia in Moniuszko’s Verbum Nobile. She was also invited by Hansjörg Schellenberger to sing the main role, Vespina, in a concert performance of Haydn’s L’infedeltà delusa.

Ms. Sobotka is widely acknowledged for her interpretations of Polish vocal repertoire – in particular the works of Karol Szymanowski. In 2004, she contributed to a complete collection of his songs released by the Dutch label Channel Classics. On a subsequentrelease for EMI Classics in 2006, performs Songs of a Fairytale Princess with Sir Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. She also has recorded Szymanowski’s orchestral songs for Polish Radio with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Last season she participated in a ‘Szymanowski Focus’ at London’s Wigmore Hall curated by Piotr Anderszewski. Her new album with Chopin songs has been recently released by BeArton as a contribution to The Chopin`s National Edition.

Recent notable debuts include the title role of Stanisilaw Moniuszko’s Halka at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, concert tour with Strauss Vier Letzte Lieder with Orchestre National d´Île-de-France, and apperance at the Le Folle Journee de Nantes. She has premiered the Bruno Dozza work commisioned for Quincena Musical de San Sebastian with texts by Eduardo Chillida.Ms Sobotka is also regularly invited to the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Music Festival where she was awarded 2007 audience prize.

Ms. Sobotka graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and continued her studieswith renowned artist and pedagogue Tom Krause at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid.

September 2011

2011/12 season only. Please contact info@iwonasobotka.com if you wish to edit this biography. To download Iwona´s bio, please go to PRESS KIT section.