Maciej Kwaśnikowski
Born in Poznań, Maciej Kwaśnikowski began his adventure with music at the age of nine in the Poznań Cathedral Choir, where he often performed as boy soloist.
In 2017 he joined the opera studio at the Opéra Bastille in Paris, where he works together with, among others, Michelle Wegwart, Margaret Singer and Jean-Marc Bouget. From 2015 to 2017 he took part in the Opera Academy Young Talent Education Programme in the National Opera in Warsaw, acquiring experience under the direction of Professor Izabela Kłosińska, Eytan Pessen and Matthias Rexroth. Starting in 2016 he has also been refining his skills with famous tenor Neil Shicoff and studied the basics of vocal techniques with Robert Nakoneczny in 2014-2016.
In the 2018-19 season he appeared as Alfred in the Paris opera studio’s production of J. Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus” and as Lysander in excerpts from Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. He also sang in Haendel’s Messiah in Bilbao and in Valladolid (Spain).
In the 2017-18 season he appeared in the amphitheatre of the Opéra Bastille as the Young Gentleman in P. Boesmans’ “Reigen”. He also sang in Mozart’s Coronation Mass in C major and in Schubert’s Mass in A-flat. In August of 2018 he sang in the Salzburg Festival in Schubert’s Mass in E-flat with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Riccardo Muti.
Maciej Kwaśnikowski is the 1st prize laureate at the International Singing Competition in Marseille (2017), 1st prize and the Alida Vane Special Prize in the Alida Vane International Singing Competition in Ventspils (Latvia, 2018) and the Cercle Carpeaux award for outstanding singers in the Paris opera studio (2018).
In 2017 Maciej Kwaśnikowski took part in the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival, where he performed in a contemporary adaptation of Mozart’s “Die Schauspieldirektor”, arranged by H. Albrecht and in the Mozart Residency at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in France.
Maciej Kwaśnikowski is also a graduate of the Faculty of Technical Physics at the Poznań University of Technology, where he received a master’s degree in engineering specialising in nanotechnology.