Soloists and OMN Ensemble
Soloists: Elżbieta Grodzka-Łopuszyńska soprano , Agata Kobierska mezzosoprano, Daniel Strządała harpsichord, OMN Ensemble: Irena Kalinowska-Grohs, Agnieszka Lasoń, Krzysztof Batog, Danuta Sobik-Ptok.
20th March 2026 / at 6:00 PM
Evangelical-Augsburg Parish in Żory
Elżbieta Grodzka-Łopuszyńska, a professor Ph.D., a graduate of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, she graduated with distinction from the solo singing class of prof. Stanisława Marciniak-Gowarzewska. She also holds a degree in Polish Philology from the University of Silesia.
She performs early and contemporary music, frequently undertaking world premieres. She specializes in sacred music from various periods, giving concerts in churches and concert halls in Poland and abroad. She collaborates with numerous symphony orchestras, choirs, and chamber ensembles. Her repertoire includes over 30 solo parts in oratorio and cantata works from various periods. Since 1999, he has performed with Julian Gembalski, performing, in addition to early and contemporary music, his compositions and collaborative improvisations.
Her portfolio includes radio, television, and CD recordings, including seven with Julian Gembalski. In 2012, she received the Blessed Father Emil Szramek Award. In 2014, she participated in the recording of Paweł Łukaszewski’s album Missa de Maria a Magdala for DUX, singing the soprano part. The album was nominated for a Fryderyk Award and also received the most prestigious Orphee d’Or – Grand Prix du Disque Lyrique – Prix Hector Berlioz from the Academie du Disque Lyrique in Paris.
She is a researcher at the Academy of Music in Katowice, where she holds the position of professor, teaching a solo singing class. In 2004, she received her doctorate, and in 2010, her habilitation in musical arts. In 2023, she received the title of professor of art from the President of the Republic of Poland.
Since 2023, she has also been working as a teacher at the Wojciech Kilar Secondary Music School Complex in Katowice, where she is developing a different new field: solo singing.
Since 2024, she has served as a Katowice City Councilor and is a member of the Culture and Education Committee. She also serves as a consultant for the Center for Artistic Education. In 2025, she received the Artistic Award of the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship.
Agata Kobierska, a professor Ph.D., in 1989 she graduated with distinction from the vocal class of Professor Michalina Growiec at the Faculty of Vocal and Acting at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. While still a student, in 1988, she was engaged as a soloist at the State Silesian Opera in Bytom. Between 1988 and 2000, she sang nearly 20 operatic roles, including Carmen, Rosina – The Barber of Seville, Olga – Eugene Onegin, Magdalena – Rigoletto, Suzuki – Madame Butterfly, Jadwiga – The Haunted Manor, Orłowski – Die Fledermaus, Flora – La Traviata, Third Lady – The Magic Flute, Orpheus – Orfeo and Eurydice, as well as minor roles in the operas Faust, Ernani, Cavalleria rusticana, and Otello.
She collaborated with the Pomeranian State Opera in Bydgoszcz. She sang on numerous opera stages in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain, Italy, Ukraine, and Malta. Alongside her operatic work, she performed chamber music, primarily oratorios, in Poland and abroad. She has performed oratorios extensively abroad: in France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine. Her credits include television, radio, and CD recordings, including a platinum-selling recording (Star of Bethlehem).
Since 1993, she has been employed at the Faculty of Vocal Performance and Acting at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. In March 2020, she received the title of Professor of Musical Arts. She is invited to international and national academic conferences and serves as a juror at international and national vocal competitions.
The culmination of her artistic and teaching work was receiving the Decoration of Honor Meritorious for Polish Culture from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in 2011.
Daniel Strządała (born 1995) is a graduate of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, where he studied organ under Professor Witold Zaborny (2019, graduated with distinction), as well as two music schools in Bielsko-Biała: the Diocesan Organ School of the Second Degree (2011, organ class) and the Stanisław Moniuszko State Music School Complex (2014, harpsichord class).
He performs both in Poland and abroad as an organist and harpsichordist, as a soloist, improviser, chamber musician, and orchestral musician. He collaborates with numerous ensembles, including the Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the Silesian Chamber Orchestra, the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Gliwice Chamber Orchestra, the Camerata Silesia Ensemble of the City of Katowice, the Ex Corde Choir of the City of Bielsko-Biała, and the Academic Music Ensemble of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice.
He has won numerous awards at national and international organ and harpsichord competitions. He has also expanded succefully his musical career to include composition. His oeuvre, which includes organ, choral, and chamber works, as well as numerous arrangements and transcriptions, has been presented outside of Poland, including in Italy, the Netherlands, and Slovakia.
For his artistic achievements, he has received a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, a scholarship from the Prime Minister, a distinction from the Starost of Bielsko, and an award from the Mayor of Czechowice-Dziedzice. He has recorded CDs, online recordings, and radio recordings (including three solo CDs), as well as premieres of works for solo organ and larger ensembles with organ. Since 2019, he has been working as an assistant at the Department of Organ and Church Music at his alma mater, the Academy of Music in Katowice, and since 2022, he has been a teacher at the Mieczysław Karłowicz State Primary and Secondary Music School in Katowice, where he teaches organ classes and organ improvisation classes.
Earlier this year, he defended his doctoral dissertation on organ music in Cieszyn Silesia. He plans to further develop his skills at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, where, starting in April, he will begin studying for the Konzertexamen program in the organ improvisation class of Professor Tomasz Adam Nowak.
OMN Ensemble – String Quartet of the Orchestra of New Music The OMN Ensemble is composed of chamber musicians from the Orchestra of New Music (OMN) – the oldest Polish ensemble specializing in the performance of contemporary music. The string quartet consists of: Irena Kalinowska-Grohs /violin/, Agnieszka Lasoń /violin/, Krzysztof Batog /viola/, and Danuta Sobik-Ptok /cello/.
The ensemble stems from the nearly 30-year tradition of OMN, founded in 1996. As the core of the NOSPR’s resident ensemble, the quartet’s musicians contribute to the unique artistic identity of the ensemble, which, under the artistic direction of Szymon Bywalec, has earned a reputation for specializing in the most challenging contemporary scores. The quartet’s mission is to explore contemporary music in search of works for Polish and world culture. The musicians have participated in over 200 world premieres. Another important aspect of the ensemble’s activity is the performance of music from earlier periods, with a particular emphasis on the Baroque. The quartet presents these works primarily in modern arrangements and instrumentation, creating a bridge between tradition and contemporary sonic language. This approach allows for a fresh interpretation of classical structures in the context of today’s sensibilities.
The ensemble regularly performs at festivals such as Warsaw Autumn and Musica Polonica Nova. Their recordings have received numerous awards, including the Danish P2-Prize, The Pizzicato Supersonic Award, and nominations for The Fryderyk and ICMA awards.Combining virtuosity with a profound understanding of the language of contemporary music, the OMN Ensemble continues the tradition of promoting the achievements of the Polish school of composition and the most interesting phenomena in contemporary chamber music worldwide.