Speakers
Artur Malke is a musician and cultural manager. He graduated from the University of Economics in Katowice, where he specialized in Public Relations, economics, and management in arts and culture. He is also a graduate of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, where he studied double bass performance.
For nearly 20 years, he has been organizing cultural events in Poland and abroad. In 2012, he co-founded {oh!} Historical Orchestra and served as its manager from 2012 to 2020, contributing significantly to the ensemble’s dynamic development. Since 2018, he has been the Program Director of the All’improvviso International Early Music Festival in Gliwice. From 2022 to 2025, he served as Vice-Chair of REMA – the European Early Music Network, an international organization bringing together over 150 institutions from across Europe.
In 2020, he began working as an artist agent under the brand Malke Music Management, which in 2024 merged with SONORA Music, an agency he now co-creates together with Stanisław Suchora and Mikołaj Bylka-Kanecki. At the same time, he continues to develop his educational activities in the field of cultural management and artists’ career development as a lecturer at the Academy of Music in Katowice, as well as a guest speaker in Poland and internationally.
Wojtek Hazanowicz is the Founder and CEO of Muzaic, as well as a professional musician, engineer, and entrepreneur. His musical journey began with classical music and later expanded into the fields of innovation and arts education. As President of JM Poland and Secretary of the Polish Music Council, Hazanowicz has been actively involved in the development of musical culture for many years.
He founded his first business in the IT and e-commerce sector while still a computer science student (Computer Science, Warsaw University of Technology) in 2006.
Magdalena Kędzior jest pierwszą i jedną z nielicznych w Polsce instruktorką Techniki Alexandra. Ukończyła renomowaną trzyletnią szkołę dla nauczycieli Techniki Alexandra: The Constructive Teaching Centre w Londynie i od ponad 30 lat uczy i propaguje tę metodę w Polsce.W 2022 roku założyła Fundacji Technika Alexandra, której celem jest szerzenie świadomości o tej metodzie i rozpowszechnienie jej w naszym kraju. Jest autorką dwóch książek na temat Techniki Alexandra: „Technika Alexandra” (Wydawnictwo Santorski &Co 1993) oraz „Jeść? Nie jeść? Żyć” (Wydawnictwo Medium 1997. Na Spotify można posłuchać jej podcastów o Technice Alexandra.
W ramach praktyki prywatnej prowadzi zajęcia indywidualne i grupowe, od 2020 roku również online. Przez ok 20 lat współpracowała z warszawską Akademią Teatralną oraz Centrum Edukacji Nauczycieli Szkół Artystycznych. Prowadzi zajęcia dla nauczycieli szkół muzycznych organizowane przez Centrum Edukacji Artystycznej. Współpracowała również z uczelniami muzycznymi w Warszawie, Łodzi, Krakowie i Gdańsku. Jej fundacja regularnie organizuje warsztaty i webinary wprowadzające do tej metody.
Agnieszka Henke is a Feldenkrais Method teacher (teacher training in Frankfurt am Main / Lindau, 2023–2024) and a Fascial Fitness trainer (since 2015). For many years, she has supported people in discovering greater freedom, lightness, and awareness in movement. She conducts Feldenkrais Method workshops as well as individual sessions.
In 2022, in cooperation with Thomas Farnbacher, an outstanding Feldenkrais Method teacher, she launched the project “Feldenkrais Poland I”, laying the organizational foundations for professional training by organizing three preparatory workshops. She actively contributes to the development of the Feldenkrais Method in Poland as a co-organizer of the first teacher training program POLSKA1, which will begin in November in Poznań.
She is fluent in Polish, German, and English.
The workshop presented as part of the Inspirational Conference is an invitation to jointly explore how mindful movement can support the voice and artistic expression.
Prof. dr hab. Ewa Iżykowska-Lipińska is a world-renowned opera singer (soprano/mezzo-soprano), actress, and stage director. She graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and is also an alumna of the State Theatre Academy in Warsaw. She continued her vocal studies in Italy at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and Teatro alla Scala in Milan, studying with Giulietta Simionato, Antonio Tonini, and Eduardo Müller. She also worked under the guidance of Giorgio Favaretto and Birgit Nilsson.
She made her international debut at La Scala in Milan in the title role of Rita by G. Donizetti. She performed the role of Fiordiligi alongside Mauro Trombetta under the baton of Eduardo Müller. In 1986, she debuted at the Vienna Kammeroper as Nedda in Pagliacci by Leoncavallo, directed by Georg Tabori. At the Vienna Kammeroper, her roles included the Countess in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Dorliska in Rossini’s Torvaldo e Dorliska, and Violetta in Verdi’s La traviata.
From 1987 to 1991, she was a soloist at the Lucerne Opera in Switzerland, where her repertoire included Poppea in L’incoronazione di Poppea, the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, Violetta in La traviata, and Adriana in Adriana Lecouvreur, performing alongside tenor Ramón Vargas and conductor Marcello Viotti.
Her repertoire includes the most important oratorio works, ranging from the Baroque period through Romantic oratorios to contemporary masterpieces such as Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and No. 8, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14, Górecki’s Symphony No. 3, as well as the complete oratorio output of Krzysztof Penderecki.
Throughout her career, she has performed at the world’s most prestigious opera houses and concert halls, including La Scala, the Musikverein, Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Kammeroper, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and the Shanghai Symphony Hall, and has toured extensively across Europe, North and South America, Africa, Russia, China, South Korea, and the Philippines.
She is frequently invited to lead and participate in international opera workshops, seminars, masterclasses, and festivals, including the Schlern Musik Festival in Italy; masterclasses at Texas Christian University; masterclasses at the Catholic University of Daegu in South Korea; the “From Chopin to Górecki” Festival at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw; and masterclasses at Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Conservatorio in Padua. She teaches at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.
Prof. dr Mariusz Kwiecień is a world-renowned baritone and a faculty member of the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków. He graduated from the Academy of Music in Warsaw, where he studied under Włodzimierz Zalewski. While still a student, he made his operatic debut in the title role of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at the Grand Theatre in Poznań.
He participated in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and made his Met debut in 1999 as Kuligin in Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová. At the Met, his roles included Marcello (La bohème), Silvio (Pagliacci), Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Don Giovanni, Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Malatesta (Don Pasquale), Escamillo (Carmen), Zurga (Les pêcheurs de perles), and Belcore (L’elisir d’amore).
He has performed on many of the world’s most prestigious opera stages, including São Paulo, Michigan, La Scala in Milan, Strasbourg, Amsterdam, Graz, the Vienna State Opera, Colorado Opera, London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Paris’s Opéra Bastille, Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.
His discography includes recordings for leading classical labels such as Naxos, Telarc, Decca, the Fryderyk Chopin National Institute, Deutsche Grammophon, and BelAir Classiques. In 2012, he received the Fryderyk Award in the category Phonographic Debut of the Year – Classical Music for his first solo album Slavic Heroes.
From 2020 to 2023, Mariusz Kwiecień served as Artistic Director of the Wrocław Opera. He is the creator and founder of the Opera Młodych (Young Opera) program, launched at the Wrocław Opera in 2020.
Prof. Mariusz Kwiecień currently teaches at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków.
Tomasz Konieczny is a bass-baritone, born in Łódź in 1972. He graduated in acting from the Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School (PWSFTviT) in Łódź, and subsequently continued his vocal studies at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw and at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music in Dresden. His operatic debut took place in 1997, when he performed the role of Figaro in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at the Grand Theatre in Poznań. Since then, he has performed in opera houses around the world. He has also expanded his stage experience through work as a stage director.
During his career, he has appeared in numerous German theatres, including the Theatre Lübeck and the National Theatre Mannheim. His major bass-baritone roles include Procida in Verdi’s I vespri siciliani, Orest in Strauss’s Elektra, and Sarastro in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. His portrayals of Wotan and Alberich in Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung have brought him international acclaim.
Tomasz Konieczny has enjoyed notable success at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, the Prague State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and at the Salzburg Festival, where he appeared in roles such as Stolzius in Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten and the Commendatore in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. In 2018, his performances at the Bayreuth Festival as Telramund in Lohengrin and as the Father in a concert performance of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel at the Edinburgh Festival earned further critical acclaim. His debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York took place on 9 March 2019, when he appeared as Alberich in Wagner’s Das Rheingold.
In 2013, two landmark recordings of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung were released: one conducted by Marek Janowski (Pentatone Classics), in which Konieczny sang the role of Wotan, and another under Christian Thielemann (Deutsche Grammophon), in which he performed the role of Alberich. In 2017, Konieczny was granted honorary Austrian citizenship, and a year later he recorded Schubert’s Winterreise with texts translated by Stanisław Barańczak, a project that received wide acclaim. In 2019, he was awarded the prestigious title of “Österreichischer Kammersänger” by the Vienna State Opera.
Prof. Piotr Sułkowski is the Director of the Kraków Opera. He has prepared numerous premieres and world premieres, including Karol Szymanowski’s operetta Lottery for Husbands, or Fiancé No. 69 (2007) and the opera Bona Sforza by Zygmunt Krauze (2024). In 2019, together with the Warsaw Chamber Opera, he prepared Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, which subsequently toured Japan.
He served as General and Artistic Director of the Warmia and Masuria Philharmonic (2011–2022), Deputy Director of the Polish Radio Choir (2008–2009), Music Director of the Toruń Symphony Orchestra (2009–2011), and Guest Conductor of the Signature Symphony Orchestra in Tulsa, USA (2008–2014). From 1993 to 2016, he was conductor of the Fryderyk Chopin State Secondary Music School Orchestra in Kraków, with which he carried out educational programs for French youth.
He is the founder and Artistic Director of the Copernicus Open Festival in Frombork and the Arena Festival Film & Music in Olsztyn. An advocate of addressing issues important to young audiences through music, he initiated projects such as the musical Copernicus (2023), awarded in several categories of the Jan Kiepura Theatre Music Awards, as well as the ballet performance Możdżer in Blue (2024), set to music by George Gershwin, addressing themes of loneliness online and the melancholy of life illuminated by smartphone screens.
In 2016, he conducted concerts and the first studio recording of the oratorio Quo Vadis featuring Aleksandra Kurzak, Artur Ruciński, and Rafał Siwek. The album The Return of the Prodigal Son, with Agnieszka Rehlis, Adam Rutkowski, and Łukasz Konieczny, was nominated for a Fryderyk Award in 2021.
He collaborates with numerous orchestras in Poland and abroad and is active as an educator at the Academy of Music in Kraków and the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, where since 2020 he has served as Head of the Conducting Department.
Agata Ubysz has over twenty years of experience managing cultural and media projects. Throughout her career, she has held senior roles at prestigious international media outlets and cultural institutions. She has expertise in artist management, business image development, communication strategy, and media relations. In 2015, she founded the Studio Kultura agency, representing opera singers and providing communication services for cultural events and institutions. She participates in international research projects analyzing opera markets across Europe and conducts workshops for students on topics related to artistic careers and business. Since 2023, she has been the editor-in-chief of the opera news portal PolishOperaNow.com. She is a qualified art historian, certified cultural manager and a lecturer at the Academy of Music in Łódź.
Marcin Habela is a professor of voice at the Geneva University of Music and an artistic advisor to the Tibor Varga Academy of Music in Sion as well as the Anargyrios and Korgialenios School of Music Academy in Spetses.
He is a recipient of numerous awards at vocal competitions, including the Audience Award at the Mezzo International Opera Competition. His operatic career includes over 40 leading baritone roles performed on opera stages and festivals throughout Europe. He has also interpreted numerous works by 20th-century composers, and his concert repertoire spans vocal music from Claudio Monteverdi to Benjamin Britten.
As a voice teacher, he regularly conducts masterclasses and lectures at the Conservatoire de Lyon and the Geneva University of Music, where he has also headed the Vocal Department since 2011. He currently serves as Professor of Voice at the Geneva University of Music and as an artistic advisor to the Tibor Varga Academy of Music in Sion (Switzerland) and the Anargyrios and Korgialenios School of Music Academy in Spetses (Greece).
