Jan Petryka

Born in Warsaw into a family of musicians, Jan Petryka grew up in Linz, Upper Austria. Acquiring a solid base of music education at the Adalbert Stifter Gymnasium, he had a successful start as a cellist in Andreas Pözlberger’s class at the Bruckner Konservatorium Linz, winning numerous prizes in music competitions. He continued studying cello in Graz with Tobias Stosiek, graduating in 2008. Simultanously, he started taking singing classes with Gertrud Schulz, and successfuly applied for the singing department of „Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst“ in Vienna, where he graduated his Lied/Oratorio studies (Rotraud Hansmann/ Marjana Lipovšek) with distinction in 2012.

From his hearly days as a student, Jan Petryka has been involved in numerous projects, exploring Vienna‘s rich world of sacred music and Lied. Throughout countless performances he acquired experience and repertoire in that field, and had established himself early as a popular concert and oratorio singer.

The collaboration with renowned ensembles, including“ Arnold Schoenberg Chor“(led by Erwin Ortner), „Radiosymphonieorchester Wien“, „Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona“, „Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg“ (Ivor Bolton), Bruckner Orchester Linz (Dennis Russel Davies), „Les Musiciens du Louvre“ (Marc Minkowski), Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra (Uros Lajovic) strenghtened his position as an established european singer. In the city of his birth he made a memorable debut, singing J.S.Bach’s „Chirstmas Oratorio“ with the Warsaw Chamber Opera choir and orchestra. At his first „Lucerne Festival“ appearance Jan Petryka embodied the title role in Haendel’s „Belshazzar“, conducted by Marcus Creed.

Jan Petryka performed on numerous opera stages, as the „Wiener Staatsoper“ (W. Hiller: „Traumfresserchen“), „Teatro Communale die Ferrara“ (F. Bertoni: „L’Orfeo“) and „Theater an der Wien“(F. Schubert: „Lazarus“). As a member of the studio of Operá Lyon Jan Petryka seized the important opportunity to sing „Tamino“ and „1st armoured man“ in W.A. Mozart’s „Magic Flute“, as well as „Pietro“ and „Jüngling“ in Franz Schreker’s „Die Gezeichneten“.

An important pillar of Jan Petryka’s work is the epoch of Baroque. „Bach Consort Wien“, „Orchester der Wiener Akademie“, „L’Orfeo Barockorchester“, „Concerto Stella Matutina“, „La Chapelle Rhenane“(Strasbourg), „Solamente Naturali“ (Bratislava), „Collegium Vocale Luzern“, as well as “Arte dei Suonatori”(Wroclaw) are some orchestras of this genre, which appreciate Jan Petryka’s skills in style and coloratura. Numerous projects with the world-renowned ensemble “Cinquecento Renaissance Vokal” inprove his understanding of polyphony and early music, and expand his horizons of expression. His intense work on Lied and vocal chamber music led to important cooperations with Robert Holl, Helmut Deutsch, Pierre Laurent Aimard, Roger Vignoles, Matthias Lademann and David Lutz. Petryka gave his successful debut with a variety of Schubert‘s works at „Oxford Lieder Festival“, accompanied by Julius Drake, Sholto Kynoch and Deirdre Brenner. Being guest at other relevant festivals (“Internationaal Liedfestival Zeist”, “Brahmsfest Mürzzuschlag” or “Festival Cully Classique”) he succeeded to convince many audiences of his talent and devotion to Lied.

Forthcoming engagements in the season 2018(2019 comprise an extensive European tour with Thomas Hengelbrock and his Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble with Mozart’s Requiem in Baden-Baden, Basel, Berlin, Brussels and Dortmund, Athens and Barcelona, Bologna and Pavia, Bach’s Magnificat in Tokyo as well as Gottfried von Einems “Der Prozess” in concert version at the Wiener Konzerthaus. As a recitalist, he will also join the prestigious Schubertiade Festival in Hohenems for chamber music ensemble recital.

His particular passion for contemporary music is expressed by close relations and regular work with some of its leading composers. Johanna Doderer, Kurt Schwertsik, Elisabeth Naske, as well as Tristan Schulze have contributed their works to Jan Petryka’s repertoire and dedicated many of them to this versatile lyrical tenor.