Hailed by the New York Times as “the magnetic center of attention” and “the clear star of the show”, Polish-Canadian soprano Maria Knapik shines as brightly on the opera stage as in concert and oratorio.

Krakow Dziennik praises her “beautiful voice and vocal technique which enable her to perform both Handel’s and Rossini’s arias with the same degree of perfection…”, noting international media acclaim for her “most attractive and captivating stage presence” and “her passionate portrayals of the roles she sings, as well as her rich, full, beautiful voice.“

Maria has appeared with major orchestras and opera companies throughout Europe and North America, rising to the challenge of such demanding title roles as Puccini’s Tosca and Verdi’s Alzira with the New York Grand Opera at Carnegie Hall. She sang as soloist at Washington’s Kennedy Center with Robert Shafer and his Grammy-award winning Washington Chorus, and as special guest artist of the Puccini Foundation at Alice Tully Hall in New York’s Lincoln Center. In international vocal competitions she won top prizes at the Gerda Lissner Foundation Vocal Competition (New York City -1st prize), the International Chigiana Festival (Sienna, Italy – 1st prize) and the Greater Buffalo Opera Company’s International Vocal Competition (1st prize). In Canada she won competitions at the Guelph Spring Festival and the Montreal National Debut Competition for Young Artists, which led to her debut on Radio-Canada and CBC. Maria was awarded the Gold Cross of Merit and silver medal Gloria Artis by the Government of Poland for her professional achievements and promotion of Polish culture, and was presented with the International Rising Star of Opera Award (2005) and Gold Medal of Honours (2011) by the American Institute of Polish Culture. Maria’s star opera roles include: Suor Angelica and Nedda (Pagliacci), with New York Grand Opera, and in Ukraine; Mimi (Puccini’s La Bohème) with New York Grand Opera and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra; Musetta (La Bohème) in Czechoslovakia; Halka (Moniuszko) with Sarasota Opera and the Warsaw National Opera; Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) at NAC with Opera Lyra Ottawa; Liu (Turandot) with New York Grand Opera; Alice Ford (Falstaff) with the State Opera in Ukraine; Fiordiligi (Così fan Tutte) in Bulgaria; Verdi’s Alzira and Giovanna d’Arco at Carnegie Hall; Mimi in Leoncavallo’s La Bohème, with New York Grand Opera conducted by Vincent La Selva; The Countess (Moniusko) in Warsaw; and Manon Lescaut with New York Grand Opera.

In her highly acclaimed portrayal of Halka with Sarasota Opera, Ms. Knapikearned praise from the Miami Herald for her “vocal power and idiomatic waywith the native melodies, singing with pure tone and vital feeling” while conveying “the character’s yearning, heartbreak and anger vividly, with a subtle psychological depth and compelling acting“.In her appearances with New York Grand Opera, the New York Times found her “an affecting Liu“, a Nedda with “flirtatious vigor and tonal elegance“, a “Manon Lescaut with wonderful high notes” and “the clear star of the show” as Mimi. Maria’s concert and oratorio roles include: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Carnegie Hall; Krakow Philharmonic in Poland); Poulenc’s Gloria (Kennedy Center); Gorecki’s Third Symphony (Carnegie Hall; National Arts Center, Ottawa); Strauss’s Four Last Songs, Mozart’s Requiem and Solemn Vespers, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, Fauré’s Requiem, and the North American premiere at Carnegie Hall of the Messe solennelle de Saint-Remi by Théodore Dubois as well as the world premiere of his Messe de la Délivrance inMontreal and Ottawa with the New World Symphony Orchestra with whomMaria recorded this work through ATMA records. She has also recorded and published with Michel Brousseau the Chopin Piesni (Op.74). She has sung in Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Handel’s Messiah with the Kingston Symphony. Maria’s graduate studies began in Poland at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Vocal and Acting Arts. In Canada she graduated from Sir Wilfrid Laurier University, then studied at the Britten-Pears School of Advanced Musical Studies in Aldeburgh, England. She has worked with opera stars Shirley Verret, Licia Albanese and Patrice Munsel, and renowned teachers and coaches such as David Jones, Dixie Neill (McGill University), Stuart Hamilton, Mary Morrison O.C. and Edith Della Pergola O.C. Maria Knapik was born in Krakow, Poland. Her stage debut came at the age of three as the youngest of the “Eight Knapik Sisters”, who performed in thousands of concerts across Europe.