Violetta Bielecka

Director and artistic director of the Choir of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic in Białystok, an educator. She graduated from the piano class of the State Music School in Białystok, tutored by Z. Frankiewicz. She studied choral conducting under the supervision of Prof. J. Bok and Prof. R. Zimak at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw (diploma with honours). A graduate and former employee of the F. Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, Choir and Vocal Postgraduate Studies Department. Since 2006 she is a Professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music (UMFC) in Warsaw, at the Faculty of Instrumental and Pedagogical Studies in Białystok (1999–2005, the head of Choral Conducting Department, currently the head of Chair of Choral Conducting and Artistic Education, 2005–2012 Deputy Dean of the Faculty). She teaches singing at the Paderewski School of Music in Bialystok. She conducted the Paderewski School of Music Choir “Schola Cantorum Bialostociensis” (1987–2009). In 1995–2017, she was the President of “Cantica Cantamus,” the Association of Choral Music Fans in Bialystok, where in 1998–2006 she directed “Cantica Cantamus,” the Białystok Chamber Choir. She was the initiator and organizer of the Polish Philharmonic of Peace—International Workshops of Polish and Expatriate Youth. She gives numerous concerts; she has performed in Poland and abroad (Germany, Italy, France, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Romania, Moldova). In 1995–1997, she was a vocal consultant of the Opera Choir of the Grand Theatre and National Opera in Warsaw. She was invited there to co-operate again in 2015 in the preparations for the premiere of S. Moniuszko’s “The Haunted Manor.” Choirs directed by her won many awards and distinctions. The Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic Choir under her direction has won numerous Fryderyk Prize of the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (2009, 2016, 2017), as well as one of the most prestigious phonographic awards in the world, International Classical Music Award 2018. She was granted the Honorary Medal of the Podlasie Region in the field of popularising music culture (2017), the President of the City of Białystok Award for artistic achievements (2016), the Medal of Merit for the UMFC, awarded by the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Ryszard Zimak (2014), the Gold Medal awarded by the President of the Association “Polish Community” in Warsaw (2010), the Gold Medal awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland Bronisław Komorowski (2010), the Minister of Culture and National Heritage Award for artistic and didactic achievements (2009), the Medal of the Commission of National Education (Ministry of Education, 2009), the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis (2008), the badge of honour for Merit for Polish Culture (2006), the Gold Medal of Merit awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland (2002), the Award of the Marshal of the Podlaskie Voivodeship (2002), the Award of the President of the City of Bialystok for organizing activities popularising the cultural heritage in the East through the activities of the Polish Peace Choir (2000), the “Distinguished in the Białystok Region” Golden Badge (1992), and the Golden Cross of Merit granted by the President of the Republic of Poland (1990). In 2013, in Poznań, she received the Prof. Kurczewski Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of choral music and propagation of Polish music. In 2015, she was appointed a member of the Marshal of the Podlaskie Voivodeship Awards Commission in the field of artistic creativity, dissemination and protection of culture, and scholarships for persons involved in creative arts, dissemination of culture and the care of monuments.