About this Artist
The emerging Polish conductor, Marta Gardolińska, came to international attention as Young Conductor in Association at the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra during the 18/19 and 19/20 seasons. During that time, she built a strong rapport and trust with the musicians which led her to conduct two phenomenally successful subscription weeks and several regional tours and educational projects. The 19/20 season also saw Marta make her very successful North American debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as a Dudamel Fellow, where she was invited to be second conductor to Gustavo Dudamel for their performances and Deutsche Grammophon recording of Ives Symphony No. 4. From 21/22 season Marta will become Music Director of the Opéra national de Lorraine following on from a triumphant debut of a new production of Zemlinsky’s Der Traumgörge in October 2019.
This 20/21 season will see Marta make a number of highly anticipated debuts, including Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre national de Lorraine and Orchestre Chambre de Paris at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees. She will also return to the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for subscription concerts and conduct the Tonkunstler Orchestre at the Wiener Musikverein.
During the Summer of 2019, Marta made her debut with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at the Edinburgh Festival and other recent highlights have included concerts with Wiener Concert-Verein at the Musikverein and a return to her home city of Warsaw to conduct the young musicians of I Culture Orchestra at the Philharmonic Hall. Other professional engagements have led her to work with ensembles including the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Symphony Orchestra of Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, Symphony Orchestra of Poznan Opera and the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia.
Along with her work as a symphonic conductor, she is also active in the field of opera. Since 2017 she has regularly worked as assistant conductor to Maestro Tadeusz Kozłowski, rediscovering forgotten operatic masterpieces of Polish composers such as Legenda Bałtyku by Felix Nowowiejski and Manru by Ignacy Jan Paderewski. 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.
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, Bertrand de Billy, 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 TUOrchester 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.