Biography

Born in Kutno/Poland.

Aga Mikolaj‘s career commenced at the Teatr Wielki in Poznań performing the roles of Contessa in „Le Nozze di Figaro“, Pamina in „Die Zauberflöte“ and Rachel in “La Juive“.

She was a member of the Bavarian State Opera Munich and later a frequent guest.

Her roles in Munich:
Pamina and First Lady in „Die Zauberflöte“, Donna Elvira in „Don Giovanni“, First Flower Maiden in „Parsifal“, Ännchen in „Der Freischütz“, Drusilla in „L’Incoronazione di Poppea“, Gretel in „Hänsel und Gretel“, Marzelline in „Fidelio“, Eurydice in „Orphée et Eurydice“, Najade in „Ariadne auf Naxos“, Almirena in „Rinaldo“, Musetta in „La Bohème“, Micaëla in „Carmen“, Fiordiligi in „Cosi fan tutte“, Freia in „Das Rheingold“ and Contessa in „Le Nozze di Figaro.“

Guest Engagements:
Pamina, Eva in „Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg“ , Contessa in „Le nozze di Figaro“, Micaela in „Carmen“, First Lady in „Die Zauberflöte“, Donna Elvira und Donna Anna in „Don Giovanni“ , Fiordiligi in „Cosi fan tutte“, Ännchen im „Freischütz“, Alice Ford in „Falstaff“, Freia and Woglinde im Wagner’s Ring , Rosalinde in „Die Fledermaus“ and Tatjana in „Eugen Onegin“

Aga Mikolaj sang with the following Opera Companies:
Berliner Staatsoper – unter den Linden, Semperoper, Dresden, Opéra de Bastille, Paris, Teatro alla Scala, Milano, New National Theatre, Tokyo, Opéra de Monte Carlo, Bolshoi Theater, Moskau, Deutsche Oper, Berlin, Aalto-Theater in Essen, Volksoper Vienna, National Theater Prag, Opera Graz, National Theater Mannheim, Teatr Wielki – Opera Narodowa Warschau, the Opera Companies of Łódź, Wrocław, Luxembourg, Heilbronn und Hannover, and the Hessische Staatstheater, Wiesbaden, Teatro Massimo Palermo.

With the Vienna State Opera she participated in the Tour of Japan with „Don Giovanni“ and sang the role of Fiordiligi with Glyndebourne Opera on Tour.

Festivals:
With the Vienna State Opera Aga Mikolaj sang Donna Elvira at the Spring Festival in Budapest and she performed the same role at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago/USA with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
In the role of Micaela, Xenia und Pamina she performed at the Festival in Carcassonne.
In Wagner’s Ring with the Staatskapelle Berlin conducted by Daniel Barenboim, she sang at the Festival BBC Proms in London.

As a concert singer Aga Mikolaj is worldwide acclaimed and in high demand.
She is renown for her interpretations of Bach, Mozart, Mahler, Brahms, Verdi, Szymanowski, Poulenc, Dvorak, Richard Strauss, Wagner, and Zemlinsky, Britten, Penderecki and Glanert.

Operetta in concert:
Her repertoire includes also: „Die Csardasfürstin“, „Der Zigeuner Baron“, and „Wiener Blut.“

Collaboration with conductors:
David Afkham, Marco Armiliato, Daniel Barenboim, Harry Bicket, Bertrand de Billy,
Ivor Bolton, Semyon Bychkov, James Conlon, Jonathan Darlington, Jacques Delacôte, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Mark Elder, Dan Ettinger, Adam Fischer, Asher Fish, Claus Peter Flor, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Leopold Hager, Michael Hofstetter, Marek Janowski, Mariss Jansons, Philippe Jordan, Christian Kabitz, Jacek Kaspszyk, Yoel Levi, Zubin Mehta, Cornelius Meister, Kent Nagano, John Nelson, Tomas Netopil, Krzysztof Penderecki, Kirill Petrenko, Andris Poga, Daniel Raiskin, Peter Schneider, Murry Sidlin, Karl Sollak, Stefan Soltesz, Christoph Spering, Markus Stenz, Otto Tausk , Constantin Trinks, Mirga Gražinytė – Tyla, Krzysztof Urbański, Edo de Waart, Omer Meir Wellber, Antoni Wit, Benjamin Zander.

Concerts and Operas with the following Orchestras:
Orchestre de Paris, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Orchestra of Vienna State Opera, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Brüssels Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestra Philharmonie Luxembourg, Staatskapelle Dresden, Hamburger Symphoniker, RAI National Symphony Orchestra Turin, (OCNE) Orquesta y Coro Nationales de España, Madrid, Orquestra Simfònica de Balears, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Hilversum, Philharmonia Orchestra London, BBC Orchestra , BBC National Orchestra of Wales, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic, Stavanger Philharmonic Orchestra
Rundfunk – Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Essener Philharmoniker, WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln, Kölner Philharmonie, Rheinische Philharmonie, Philharmonien in Łódź, Posen, Breslau, Krakau, Stettin, Słupsk , Orkiestra Filharmonii Narodowej in Warschau, ( NOSPR ) Narodowa Orkiestra Symfoniczna Polskiego Radia in Kattowitz, ( RTÉ ) National Symphony Orchestra Dublin, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra, Macao Orchestra u.a.

Festivals and locations:
Festival Internacional de Musica y Danza de Granada , Festival de La Chaise-Dieu, Musikfestspielen Saar, Festival Mecklenburg – Vorpommern, Salle Pleyel and Philharmonic Hall, Paris, Berliner Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Wien, Royal Festival Hall London, Symphony Hall Boston, Avery Fisher Hall New York, Filharmonia Narodowa w Warszawie.

At Prince Charles´ 65th birthday celebration and the 35th anniversary of his position as Patron of the „Philharmonia Orchestra London“, Aga Mikolaj sang a Wagner Gala with this orchestra at Buckingham Palace, conducted by Christoph von Dohnanyi.

Education:
Studies at the Conservatory of Poznań with Prof. Antonina Kawecka and
Masterclasses with Renata Scotto and particularly Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, with whom she worked on all her roles until she passed away.

Awards
Awards at various Singing Competitions, for example the 1995 Special Award of the Ada Sari Competition in Nowy Sącz, 1996 Award of the Audience and G. F. Händel Award of the 41st International Singing Competition in s´Hertogenbosch/Netherlands. In 1999 she won the 2nd Award and the Verdi Award at the International Alfredo Kraus Competition in Las Palmas.
At the Bavarian State Opera she was awarded with the TZ Rose for her interpretation of Micaela in Carmen, singing with Jonas Kaufmann, for the best interpretation of the evening.

Aga Mikolaj was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order “Polonia Restituta” by the President of Poland, as well as from the city of Kutno for their services to the Kutno district.

On October 10th, 2021 Aga Mikolaj sang a R. Strauss recital in Garmisch together with Karl Sollak

It is with great sadness that we announce that Aga Mikolaj passed away on November 11th, 2021 at the age of 50.

Aga Mikolaj was laid to rest on December 2nd, 2021. She is buried next to her father and brother in the cemetery in her native Kutno.

In memory and in honor of the artist, the square in front of the Music Conservatory in Kutno was renamed Agnieszka Mikolajczyk (Aga Mikolaj’s birth name) Square.

Recordings (CD/Blu Ray):
Solo CD„ Aga Mikolaj sings Mozart & Strauss“ with the WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln conducted by Karl Sollak.

The World premiere of Detlev Glanert´s „Requiem for Hieronymus Bosch„ with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam was released on CD/SACD.

Franz Schuberts Operas „Die Zwillingsbrüder“ and „Der vierjährige Posten“ conducted by Christoph Spering were released by Phoenix.

Pentatone released Janacek´s Glagolitic Mass conducted by Marek Janowski.

The Performances of „ Die Zauberflöte“, „Das Rheingold“ and Götterdämmerung all from the Teatro alla Scala Milano, are available on DVD and Blu-Ray.