Bernadetta Grabias is a soloist with the Grand Theatre in Łódź. She graduated with distinction from the Academy of Music in Łódź, having studied singing with Professor Ziemowit Wojtczak and conducting. After graduation she joined the Łódź opera company, where she creates leading mezzo-soprano roles. She has won a range of prizes, including third prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition (2008).
Her repertoire includes the roles of: Giovanna Seymour in Anne Boleyn, Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda, Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Izabella in The Italian Girl in Algiers, Princess de Bouillon in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, the title role in Bizet’s Carmen, George Sand in Ptaszyńska’s Kochankowie z klasztoru Valldemosa, Niclausse in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann, Jadwiga and Chamberlain’s Wife in Moniuszko’s The Haunted Manor.
As guest singer she takes part in concerts of symphony music, oratorios, and songs. She has sung: Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor, Requiem and Coronation Mass; Verdi’s Requiem, and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. She has sung at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera, Kraków Opera, Poznań Opera House, Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz, Silesian Opera, and ensembles such as the Orchestre National de Belgique, Orchestre symphonique de la Monnaie, Orchestra of the Opera Royal de Wallonie, Symfonisch Orkest van de Vlaamse Opera, I Musici Brucellensis, Symphony Orchestra of the Hungarian Radio, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, and the orchestras of the Poznań Philharmonic, Olsztyn Philharmonic, Opole Philharmonic, Rzeszów Philharmonic, and Łódź Philharmonic.
She has performed at La Folle Jurnée in Nantes, Printemps Musical in Silly, Opernfestival Riehen Opera St. Moritz, Kolory Polski (Colours of Poland) Festival at the Łódź Philharmonic, Musica Sacra in Warsaw, Contemporary Music Laboratory in Białystok.
She has worked with such prominent conductors as: Kazushi Ono, Jesse Jones, Adrian Leaper, Łukasz Borowicz, Sierra Kingele, John Axelrode, Gunter Neuhold, Tadeusz Kozłowski, Ruben Silva, Tomasz Tokarczyk, Jan Przybylski, Marek Pijarowski, Tadeusz Wojciechowski, Eraldo Salmieri, Zofia Wisłocka, Antoni Wicherek, Andrzej Straszyński, Wojciech Michniewski, Jerzy Salwarowski, Marcin Nałęcz-Niesiołowski, John Schultz, Paweł Przytocki and directors: Dieter Kaegi, Maciej Prus, Tomasz Konina, Michał Znaniecki, Andrzej Wolf, Joachim Rathke, Laco Adamik, Waldemar Zawodziński, Janina Niesobska, Roberto Skolmowski, Wiesław Ochman, Henryk Baranowski, and Krzysztof Kelm.
In 2004 she received a Schiller Award for the best debut from ZASP, the Society of Polish Theatre, Film, Radio and Television Artists. She has been awarded Brylant Polski (Polish Brilliant) as an outstanding emerging artist and an award from Łódź executive authorities for her exceptional artistic achievements.
(photo: artist’s archive)