Dorota Sobieska, soprano

Biography

Dorota Sobieska, soprano, sings a wide variety of repertoire. Among composers to whom she feels an especially close connection are Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi, as well as Mozart. In Cleveland, Sobieska has been noted for her rendition of six Bellini heroines: Amina, Elvira, Giulietta, Norma, Alaide, and Imogene. She has also appeared in the leading roles of eight Mozart operas, including Konstanze, Elisa, Zaide, Fiordiligi, Costanze, La Contessa, and the Queen of the Night—the last of which she performed in a fully-staged production on tour in Germany. In May of 2006, she sang Saïs, the leading soprano role in the world premiere of the opera Thamos, King of Egypt by Halim El-Dabh, which incorporates fragments of music by Mozart.

Sobieska is also an acclaimed recitalist, having performed in the United States, Poland, Canada, Bulgaria, and Germany. In April of 2007, she sang a joint recital at Carnegie Hall: Zankel Hall in a program that included world-renowned bass Dimitri Kavrakos, and in June 2009, she sang a solo recital of Donizetti’s arias with Pazardzhik Symphony Orchestra in Bulgaria.

Together with her husband Jacek Sobieski, she founded Opera Circle in Cleveland in 1995. Since its inception, the company has produced over 30 operas in Italian, German, Polish, French, and English, as well as numerous concerts. Opera Circle enjoys critical acclaim and rapport with its enthused audience. Sobieska stage directed many Opera Circle productions, and wrote very successful dialogues for Zaide, Thamos, King of Egypt, and Bastien und Bastienne.

Sobieska holds a doctoral degree from Kent State University, with dissertation on poetry, music and philosophy of art.