Born in Warsaw into a family of musicians, Jan Petryka studied cello at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz and at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. Alongside his studies, he received his first singing lessons with Gertrud Schulz and later studied with Rotraud Hansmann at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, graduating with distinction in the lieder and oratorio class under the guidance of Marjana Lipovšek. After participating in sacred music projects since beginning his studies, the tenor has gradually established himself as a versatile concert and oratorio singer.

Baroque music remains a key part of Jan Petryka's performing career. Ensembles such as the Bach Consort Wien, Orchester Wiener Akademie, L'Orfeo Barockorchester, Concerto Stella Matutina, La Chapelle Rhénane, Le Concert de l'Hostel Dieu, Solamente Naturali, Collegium Vocale Luzern and Arte dei Suonatori are among the tenor’s regular and long-standing collaborations, while numerous projects with the ensembles Cinquecento Renaissance Vokal and Clemecic Consort further enrich his repertoire.

Jan’s intensive work in lied and vocal chamber music has additionally led to fruitful collaborations with Robert Holl, Helmut Deutsch, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Roger Vignoles, Matthias Lademann and David Lutz. He debuted several Schubert programmes to a resounding success at the Oxford International Song Festival, accompanied by Julius Drake, Sholto Kynoch and Deirdre Brenner.

On the opera stage, Jan Petryka has interpreted the roles of Tamino and Erster Geharnischter in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Opéra National de Lyon, together with those of Pietro and Ein Jüngling in Franz Schreker's Die Gezeichneten. Further engagements took him to the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara for Ferdinando Bertoni's Orfeo ed Euridice, to the Theater an der Wien for Schubert's Lazarus, to the Vienna State Opera for Wilfried Hiller's children's opera Das Traumfresserchen, and to the Warsaw Chamber Opera for Handel's Ariodante. He also made his debut at the Prague National Theatre as the Novice in Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd, further appearing as Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Israel Chamber Orchestra and as Jaquino in Beethoven's Fidelio at Styriarte in Graz under the direction of Andrés Orozco-Estrada.

Other career highlights to date include Jan’s debut at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg accompanied by Sir András Schiff, several European tours with Thomas Hengelbrock and the Balthasar Neumann Choir & Ensemble, a concert performance of Gottfried von Einem's opera Der Prozess at the Vienna Konzerthaus and Bach's cantata Christen, ätzet diesen Tag (BWV 63) conducted by Vladimir Jurowski at the Berlin Philharmonie.

At the Salzburg Festival, Jan Petryka made his successful debut as Jacob in Leonard Evers' children's opera Gold! and took part in a concert performance of Lortzing's Der Waffenschmied at the Theater an der Wien. He also appeared as Evangelist in Bach's St Matthew Passion with the Zurich Sing-Akademie at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre and as soloist in Bach's Christmas Oratorio at the Vienna Musikverein. As a lied singer, he made his debut with Schubert's "Schwanengesang" at the Fundació Victoria de los Ángeles in Barcelona and appeared at the Musikverein Regensburg with Leoš Janáček's “The Diary Of One Who Disappeared”.

Projects of the previous and current season include a new production of Vicente Martín y Solér's L'arbore di Diana at the MusikTheater an der Wien, Mozart's Coronation Mass with the Orchestra Wiener Akademie under Martin Haselböck, and Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Peter Dijkstra. In recital, he gave lied and ensemble performances at the Schubertiade Hohenems, Wiener Konzerthaus and the Lied Festival of the Heidelberger Frühling. Together with Jordi Savall and his Le Concert des Nations, Jan Petryka will also appear as the Evangelist in Bach's St. John Passion on tour in Europe.

2023 | 2024

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