Karolina Sofulak made her directorial debut in opera at Opera North, one of the UK most progressive opera institutions. She was the first Pole to win the Europäischer Opernregie-Preis (Zurich). In Poland, she works for the Poznań Opera House and the Opera Rara Festival in Kraków. Her widely discussed take on Dvořák’s Vanda (2020) addressed the changing philosophy of power and the impact a community of women can make when they fight for a better world. The following year she developed a production of Eötvös’s The Golden Dragon. Her interpretation of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera opened at the Royal Danish Opera and the Oslo Opera House. In 2023 she won the Jan Kiepura Award for Best Director for Rusalka (Poznań Opera House), while her staging of Turandot (Kraków Opera) was named Best Production. This year she reinterpreted Cavalleria rusticana/Aleko for Opera North and Albert Herring for the Halle Opera.
