- Biography
Marta GARDOLIŃSKA
Participant of 2018
Marta Gardolińska is rapidly developing into one of the most exciting young conductors and is currently Music Director of Opera national de Lorraine. She was also recently announced as Principal Guest Conductor of Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona from the 22-23 season following her hugely successful debut last season.
Marta came to international attention in 2018 as Young Conductor in Association at the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra where she led the orchestra in two highly successful subscription concerts. This led to her being offered a Dudamel Fellowship with the Los Angeles Philharmonic during the 2019-20 season which included an invitation to be to be second conductor to Gustavo Dudamel for their Grammy award winning live Deutsche Grammophon recording of Ives Symphony No. 4. Marta returned to the Los Angeles last summer to make her debut with the Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl which led to an immediate re-invitation to return in August 2022.
The 21-22 season saw Marta make important debuts with the London Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse and Royal Northern Sinfonia. Other recent highlights have included her Paris debut with the Orchestre Chambre de Paris, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Along with her work as a symphonic conductor, she is also active in the field of opera. During the 20- 21 season she made her hugely successful French debut with Opéra national de Lorraine conducting a new production of Zemlinsky’s Der Traumgörge and the 21-22 season saw acclaimed productions of Messager’s Fortunio in Nancy and her debut at Opera du Rhin in Strasbourg conducting Carmen with Stéphanie d’Oustrac. During the 22-23 season she will conduct a much-anticipated new production of Manru by Paderewski and a revival of La Traviata at Opera national de Lorraine. Between 2013-2015 she served as the second conductor with the company Johann–Strauss–Operette Wien, learning the purest style of the Viennese musical tradition.
Symphonic highlights of the current season include further important debuts with Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra and the Halle Orchestra, as well as a return visits to Birmingham to lead the CBSO Youth Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and three visits to Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona.
Inspired by the experience of singing in her school choir and fascinated by the colours of symphonic music, it led her to study conducting at the Frederic Chopin Music University of Warsaw, the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and in many masterclasses and workshops with artists such as Bernard Haitink, Peter Eötvös, Simone Young, György Kurtág and Marin Alsop.
In 2015, she was named Conductor in Residence of the Akademischer Orchesterverein Wien and during the 17/18 season she held the position of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of TU-Orchester Wien.
Among her many accolades she has received an Honourable Mention and the Special Orchestra Prize of the Witold Lutosławski Conducting Competition in Białystok, Poland (2016), the 3rd Prize and the Special Orchestra Prize from the Felix Mendelssohn International Conducting Competition in Thessaloniki, Greece (2016) and she has been one of eight semi-finalists in the 1st International Hong Kong Conducting Competition in 2018. In 2016, Marta was awarded the title “Outstanding Pole in Austria” for her efforts in popularizing Polish culture and music outside of the country. She was also named Associate Fellow for the seasons 2017-2019 by the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship established by Marin Alsop.
Before deciding to become a musician, she spent several years professionally training acrobatics, swimming, and middle distance running while at the same time studying flute and piano.
Works conducted in the Competition:
Round 1
Beethoven: Egmont Overture, Op 84 (excerpt)
Weber: Der Freischütz Overture (excerpt)
Round 2 – Semi-finals
Bartók: Divertimento (excerpt)
Chopin: Piano Concerto No 2 in F minor, Op 21: II Larghetto (excerpt)
Beethoven: Symphony No 5 in C minor, Op 67 (excerpt)