“Agnieszka Żarska works also with a number of well-known soloists from all over Europe. Because she is a good singer herself, she knows how to accompany them. So all skills for a good cooperation are given. Fine musicianship, conducting, organizing, and last but not least a very friendly person.”
Peter Kooij
Amsterdam AD 2023
“Agnieszka Żarska put together a wonderful group of professional instrumentalists and succeeded in creating a unique work atmosphere as a talented conductor, which stimulates and motivates these players to achieve truly memorable concert performances.”
Andreas Scholl
Kiedrich AD 2024
She has produced and conducted dozens of premiere oratorio/cantata concerts, chamber music and recitals with a wide repertoire, including e.o. works by J.S.Bach, Handel, Mozart, Telemann, Delalande, composers of Central European provenance, including Polish baroque composers.
As the first Polish conductor, she directed and recorded the “Saul” Oratorio by G.F. Handel and Oratorios by J.S.Bach – BWV 11, BWV 249, broadcasted on Polish TV.
The concert “B minor Mass, BWV 232” by Bach, produced and directed by Agnieszka Żarska, was among the winners of the 2024 “Musical Eagles” competition as the event of the year, gaining wide recognition among the music community in Poland.
In the 2025 season, she is preparing as producer and artistic director the contemporary world premiere of Godfrey Finger’s semi-opera “The fate of Troy” from 1701, to a libretto based on the drama by Elkanah Settle. The premiere will take place as part of the 15th edition of international Baroque Explorations Festival.
Producer and culture manager
Gained her theoretical knowledge about cultural management during her postgraduate studies at the Institute of Social Affairs of the Jagiellonian University of Krakov.
Agnieszka Żarska’s greatest advantage is her extensive practical experience, acquired through several years of active artistic and cultural projects, built based on such features as: excellent work organization, high degree communication skills, goal orientation and high negotiation skills ability to work in a team as a leader.
Since 2007 Agnieszka Żarska has been creating and managing comprehensive original cultural projects with an international reach. Her Baroque Explorations Festival was awarded in 2015 with the “Pearl of Pieniny” and the EFFE Label quality certificate (2019, 2020 editions) awarded by an international group of festival organizers.
Agnieszka Żarska is an effective and experienced fundraiser and administrator. Collaborates with many Polish and international cultural and diplomatic institutions. She creates and implements individual projects with high-quality promotional campaigns. Agnieszka Żarska is particularly appreciated as an organizer, always acting with passion and commitment.
Her way to baroque music ….
Agnieszka Żarska has been fascinated by early culture music and especially vocal polyphony for years. Involved in music since the age of 6 – she learned to play the piano and then the violin in local musical school; she took her first steps as a conductor at the age of 16, conducted a polyphonic youth choir in her family town – Bielsk Podlaski/Poland.
Agnieszka Żarska graduated with honors from the Institute of Musicology of the Catholic University of Lublin in Poland, defending her master’s thesis based on the analysis of sources: the 13th-century Antiphonary of the Norbertine SS. from Imbramowice/Poland and passing the exam in specialization in choral conducting, including Polish premiere of “Beatus Vir” by Claudio Monteverdi from the “Selva morale e spirituale”.
She improved her conducting skills during courses in Gdańsk and Legnica, conducted by prof. Jan Łukaszewski and prof. Uve Gronostay. In 2008, she participated in a rehearsal of St. John Passion by J.S.Bach, led by Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the Musikverein in Vienna.