NEW YEAR'S EVE GALA - | JAGODA SOKOŁOWSKA O'DONOVAN | JARYNA RAK | EWA PELWECKA

New Year's Eve Gala - Operetta and Musical Fireworks in the Fryderyk Concert Hall

We are happy to invite you to the annual New Year's Eve Gala at the Fryderyk Concert Hall. This is a unique opportunity to say goodbye at the passing of 2026 while listening to well-known and popular operetta and musical arias.

Jagoda Sokołowska‑O’Donovan – mezzo-soprano, flutist, cultural manager, architect of the Fryderyk Concert Hall

A versatile artist and cultural entrepreneur, she graduated with distinction from the Academy of Music in Kraków. Prizewinner of national and international competitions both as a flautist and singer, she has performed across Europe, Asia, and North America. Her artistry was praised by Jerzy Waldorff – an eminent Polish music critic, essayist, and cultural advocate – who described her as “an exceptionally gifted artist… an outstanding musical personality.” She is the founder and director of the Fryderyk Concert Hall in Warsaw – a unique venue inspired by the spirit of 19th-century salons, where she merges artistic vision with contemporary cultural leadership.

Yaryna Rak - soprano

A graduate of the Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy in the piano class of Maria Kruszelnicka and in the operatic singing class of Volodymyr Ignatenko and Ludmila Bozhko. She also completed an artistic internship in the operatic singing class of Izabela Kłosińska at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. Winner of piano and vocal competitions nationally and internationally. A scholarship recipient from the President of Ukraine and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland. She taught a chamber singing class at the music academy in Lviv for several years, a master class in interpretation and vocal technique at the University of Tromsø. Currently, she is a coach for soloists at the Grand Theatre - National Opera in Warsaw. Collaborates with numerous festivals, philharmonics, and theaters nationally and internationally as a vocal coach and operatic singer.

Ewa Pelwecka - piano

She is a graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.

From 1994 to 2012 she worked as a pianist and harpsichordist at the Warsaw Chamber Opera, performing basso continuo and solo parts in operas by Mozart, Rossini, Cimarosa, Galuppi, Donizetti, Verdi, as well as in works by Kurpiński, Elsner, Karłowicz, Kronenberg and others.

Since 2012 she has been working at the Grand Opera Theatre as a soloist tutor. 

At the same time, she conducts a wide range of concerts in the country and abroad.

She performs as a soloist as well as a chamber musician, collaborating with outstanding musicians, in particular with leading singers of the Polish opera scene.