performers (R)

conductor; b. 23rd April 1977 in Brzeg. He studied conducting with Prof. Marek Pijarowski at the Academy of Music in Wrocław (1998-2003). He also graduated in Slavic philology from the University of Wrocław and held a scholarship from The Pushkin State Russian Language Institute in Moscow. He has participated in conducting masterclasses with Marek Tracz, Gabriel Chmura and Kurt Masur. In 2007, he received his doctoral degree, and in 2020 – habilitated doctor degree.

Wojciech Rodek made his conducting debut in 2000 with the Wrocław Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra. In 2003 he won the 2nd prize in the 3rd National Witold Lutosławski Competition for Young Conductors in Białystok. He won a competition for the post of assistant to Antoni Wit at Warsaw Philharmonic – a post he held in 2005-07.

He has led such symphony orchestras as the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra, as well as philharmonic orchestras from Gdańsk, Koszalin, Szczecin, Poznań, Bydgoszcz, Białystok, Kielce, Łódź, Zielona Góra, Wrocław, Jelenia Góra, Opole, Wałbrzych, Katowice, Rzeszów, Kraków, orchestras from Toruń, Płock and Łomża, and chamber ensembles: Capella Bydgostiensis, Capella Cracoviensis and Leopoldinum. He also regularly performs with the Ankara Presidential Symphony Orchestra, the Antalya State Symphony Orchestra, the Bursa Regional Symphony Orchestra, the Izmir State Symphony Orchestra, and the European Johann Strauss Orchestra.

With his music ensemble Opera Polska (Polish Opera) he has appeared since 2002 in the most important concert halls in Europe (e.g. in Basel, the Bern Casino, St. Gallen Tonhalle, Dresden Kulturpalast, Hamburg Musikhalle, Philharmonie am Gasteig in Munich, the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg, Stuttgart Beethovensaal, Vienna Konzerthaus and Zurich Tonhalle). In 2009-10 he toured China (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Kunming, Chongqing, Tianjin) with the European Johann Strauss Orchestra.

Wojciech Rodek has conducted ensembles at such famous festivals in Poland and abroad as the Wratislavia Cantans, Xantener Sommerfestspiele, Sinfonia Varsovia to Its City, Virtuosi in Lviv, and the International P. Tchaikovsky and N. von Meck Festival in Vinnytsia. He has conducted performances featuring such eminent artists as Rafał Blechacz, Krzysztof Jakowicz, Jakub Jakowicz, Marcin Zdunik, Paweł Wakarecy, Idil Biret, Gülsin Onay, Hüseyin Sermet, Ingolf Wunder, Alexandre Dubach, Michael Vaiman, Johannes Moser, Gautier Capuçon, Gavriel Lipkind, Olga Rusina, Valentina Igoshina, Lukas Geniušas and Alexander Markov. The artist has premiered many new works. In 2012 he made his debut at the Grand Theatre – National Opera in Warsaw, conducting Agata Zubel's drama/opera Oresteia. He also conducted the INSO-Lviv in the first performance of Ivan Pakhota’s symphony Synthesis.

The artist’s extensive discography includes symphonic, film and popular music. A recording that has won special acclaim is that of Angela Illaramendi’s Symphony No. 7, which received the prestigious award of the Spanish magazine "Compact CD" for the best recording of Spanish music in 2009. It was also used as the soundtrack for the film La Buena Nueva (dir. Helena Taberna) and won the award of the 14th Toulouse Latin America Film Festival for the best soundtrack.

Since 2005, Wojciech Rodek holds the posts of artistic director of Lublin Philharmonic. He has been a music director of Gliwice Music Theatre (since 2010), artistic director of Lower Silesian Philharmonic in Jelenia Góra (since 2014), guest conductor of the Pomeranian Philharmonic in Bydgoszcz, and deputy artistic director of the Grand Theatre in Łódź (since 2015). Since 2013, he has conducted the orchestra of the Zenon Brzewski International Music Courses in Łańcut. He is also a lecturer in conducting at the Academy of Music in Wrocław.

Wojciech Rodek has been honoured with prestigious awards: the Jan Kiepura Music Theatre Award for the Best Conductor (2011) and the Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis (2015).