The Ensemble

Mazowsze Ensemble’s Director and Principal Conductor, Jacek Boniecki,  began his music education at the Feliks Nowowiejski Music School in Gdańsk, starting to conduct at the age of 14 in amateur vocal and instrumental groups. He is a graduate of the Warsaw Academy of Music where he studied conducting with Prof. Bogusław Madey.

He began his career as assistant and conductor at the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk and the Musical Theatre in Gdynia. His subsequent posts included Musical Director of the “Roma” Musical Theatre in Warsaw and General and Artistic Director of the Płock Symphony Orchestra and the Musical Theatre in Lublin. He has been associated with Mazowsze National Folk Song and Dance Ensemble since 2012.

Jacek has conducted widely on the operatic stage – leading productions of Georges Bizet’s Carmen (with Jerzy Maksymiuk), Verdi’s Aida, Traviata, Nabucco and Falstaff, John Kander’s Cabaret (dir. Jerzy Stuhr), Stanisław Moniuszko’s Haunted Manor and Jan Stefani’s Cud mniemany, czyli Krakowiacy i Górale (dir. Andrzej Strzelecki), most known operettas, and ballets including Léo Delibes’ Coppélia and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. He has led a number of concerts at Warsaw’s Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera, including those featuring eminent polish jazz artists Urszula Dudziak, Michał Urbaniak, Wojciech Karolak and Marcin Pospieszalski. He regularly conducts Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass.

Jacek is recipient of the City of Lublin Artistic Award (2011), the title of “Cultural Ambassador for Lublin and the Lublin region” (2018), the Medal commemorating the 700th Anniversary of the City of Lublin - an honorary distinction which is awarded to individuals who have contributed in an outstanding manner to the development of the city (2018). In 2017, he received the Order of Merit for Polish Culture from the Minister for Culture and National Heritage and in March 2019, the Gold Medal of the Polish Success Academy for longstanding promotion of Polish culture in Poland and abroad. In 2021, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta from the President of Poland.

Krystian studied piano at the Fryderyk Chopin State Music School in Będzin and continued his education in the double bass class at the 1st and 2nd degree State Music School in Bytom. He received his Master of Arts from the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, also as a student of the double bass.

As a double bass player he has worked with orchestras such as Sinfonia Viva, Concerto Avenna, Warsaw Camerata and the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw. He has also worked as a musician and arranger with the Ester Rachel and Ida Kamińska Jewish Theatre in Warsaw.

In 2010 Krystian composed the music to Hans Christian Andersen’s The Nightingale for the Baj Pomorski Theatre in Toruń. He has worked with Mazowsze Ensemble since 2008 as a pianist and musical arranger, and currently holds the position of Assistant Musical Director.

Zofia has a PhD in the field of musical arts, rhythm and dance. She is a graduate of the Department of Dance at the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, specialising in choreography and dance technique, and the Grażyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz University of Music in Łódź, where she studied Artistic Education in the field of the Musical Arts. She holds a teaching qualification from the University of Music in Łódź.

A longstanding soloist, teacher, and assistant to the Head of Ballet at the Stanisław Hadyna Song and Dance Ensemble “Śląsk” as well as the Artistic Lead of its Artistic Summer School, Zofia has also taught Polish folk dance, national dance and character dance at the Silesian Centre for Regional Education in Koszęcin and the Ludomir Różycki Ballet School in Bytom.

She has authored, directed and choreographed productions inspired by Polish folklore, as well as international student folk festivals, artistic projects and workshops at home and abroad - in Lithuania, France, Hungary, the USA and Japan - and is longstanding folklore consultant to the International Scouting Festival of School Youth Culture in Kielce. She has worked with many acclaimed artists and choreographers, including Stanisław Hadyna, Elwira Kamińska, Hanna Chojnacka, Zofia Rudnicka, Romana Agnel, Conrad Drzewiecki, Witold Borkowski, Juraj Kubanka, Władysław Stefanik, Michał Jarczyk, Witold Gruza, Henryk Konwiński and Wiesław Dudek.

Zofia is author of the album: History of Dance and Polish National Dances: Methodology, Classification, Stage forms

The Head of the Choir and its conductor, Mirosław is also Mazowsze’s Deputy Director for Strategy and Development. A student of Kazimierz Górski, Stanisław Krukowski and Jerzy Zabłocki, he has a doctorate in Musical Arts from the Academy of Music in Poznań, is a graduate of the Musicological Institute of the Catholic University of Lublin and completed a postgraduate degree in Choirmaster Studies at the Bydgoszcz Academy of Music. Since 1982 he has worked with the Academic Choir of the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, where he was conductor and artistic director until 2018. In 1988, he founded the choir of Lublin Cathedral, leading it for 16 years, and between 2004 and 2009 was Director of the Lublin Philharmonic. Between 1997 and 2017 he also worked at the Musical Institute of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin.

Mirosław’s choirs have performed in Poland and abroad, including in Rome, Paris, Barcelona, San Marino, Loreto as well as before Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.  His repertoire as conductor and choirmaster includes Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Joseph Hayden’s Missa Cellensis in honorem Beatissimae Virginis Mariae and Charles Gounod’s Messe solennelle en L’honneur de Sainte-Cecile.

He has received the City of Lublin Artistic Award (2011), the title of “Cultural Ambassador for Lublin and the Lublin region” (2018), and the Medal commemorating the 700th Anniversary of the City of Lublin - an honorary distinction which is awarded to individuals who have contributed in an outstanding manner to the development of the city (2018). Mirosław has been decorated with the Medal of the National Commission of Education and the Gold Medal with Laurel Wreath of the Polish Association of Choirs and Orchestras. In 2018, he received the Order of Merit for Polish Culture and, in 2021, the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta from the President of Poland.

Wojciech is a graduate of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, where he studied Choral Conducting with Prof. Jan Wojtach and Symphonic and Operatic conducting under Prof. Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk. He has worked as Musical Director of the Gliwice Musical Theatre, as a conductor at the Rozrywka Theatre in Chorzów and was founder and conductor of Orkiestra Niecosymfoniczna. He has conducted the Gloria Choir (Bojszowy Nowy), the Ogniwo Choir of the Silesian Philharmonic (Katowice), the Hejnał Male Choir (Katowice) and the Laudate Dominum Choir of the Parish of the Blessed Caroline in Tychy.
 
Wojciech has worked with the Rzeszów and Silesian Philharmonic Orchestras, and has over 30 operetta and musical pieces in his repertoire. These include: Oliver, Jekyll & Hyde, Our House, The Producers, The Fiddler on the Roof, The Merry Widow, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Adams Family, A Night in Venice. He was also musical director of the Polish premiere of Sweeney Todd. Off stage he is father to Wincenty, Maurycy and Matylda. He is fascinated by sailing and coffee.

Beginning his career at Śląsk Song and Dance Ensemble and at the Rozrywka Theatre in Chorzów, Krzysztof came to Mazowsze in 1992 and has been an integral part of the Ensemble ever since. In his role as an artist he sang and danced on stages across the world: in Japan, the USA, Canada, Lebanon, Jordan and most European countries. From 2001 he has been in charge of the work of the Department for Concerts and Tours. He has organised Mazowsze performances in Poland and beyond – in Europe, China (2004, 2013), Kazakhstan (2005), Russia (2008, 2011, 2012), Brazil (2005, 2008), Israel (2007, 2011), the USA (2007, 2010) and Canada (2007, 2010). He also works as a consultant for artistic productions with Sweden’s Star Promotion, the French companies Show Production and FGL and 2Luck Concepts (USA). He is a member of the International Society for the Performing Arts.

Krzysztof has been recognised by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for his role in the promotion of musical culture. He has received a diploma of recognition from the Association of Polish Stage Artists and the Silver Medal of the Polish Success Academy for longstanding promotion of Polish culture in Poland and abroad.