Prof. Bozena Betley graduated with honours at the National Academy of Music in Warsaw at the Department of Instrumental flute class doc. H. Bartnikowski and in the solo singing class of doc. M. Bojar-Przemieniecka at the Vocal Department. For 8 years she has been the first flutist in Warsaw Operetta Orchestra and then for five years a soloist of Opera and Operetta in Bydgoszcz. Then she was a soloist in the Grand Theatre in Warsaw. She has won vocal competitions. In 1969 she received the second prize at the International Moniuszko Competition in Warsaw (the first prize was not given). In 1970 she won the second prize at the International Competition of Toulouse and the Special Award “Silver Cup of Paris”. In 1979 she received a special award for her creative contribution in the recording of Stanislaw Moniuszko’s compositions f.e. for the opera “Straszny Dwor” (Hanna) for Radio and Television conducted by Jan Krenz. She made her debut in the role of Aida of G.Verdi. In the years 1974-1978 she sang at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival as Ilia in “Idomeneo” the Countess in “The Marriage of Figaro” and Fiordiligi in “Cosi fan tutte” of W.A. Mozart. She played the role of La Traviata at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo many times. She sang the role of Hanna from “Straszny Dwor” in Theater der Stadt Bonn. In 1981 she sang Roxana in "King Roger" by K. Szymanowski at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires conducted by Stephan Wislocki. She sang at the Auditorium di Napoli in Montpelier, Staadtsphilharmonie Kaiserlautern, Valencia and many others. The most common roles (besides those) were: Elizabeth in “Don Carlos”, Amelia in “Masquerade Ball” by Verdi, Donna Anna in “Don Giovanni”, Pamina in “Magic Flute” by Mozart, Countess in opera “The Countess” by Moniuszko, Micaela in “Carmen” by Bizet. In her artistic achievements there are also recordings, television and radio premieres, CD with Polish songs (including the BBC), Opera Arias CD, CD with “Ave Maria” by different composers, recording of oratorios and opera “King Roger” by K. Szymanowski and two music videos recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for the BBC: “Idomeneo” (Ilia) under the direction of J. Pritchard and “Cosi fan tutte” (Fiordiligi) of W.A. Mozart conducted by. B. Haitink. In 1989 she began her pedagogical activity in the Music School of Frederic Chopin in Warsaw. Since 1995 he has been an academic at the University of Music of Fryderyk Chopin in Warsaw. In 2003 she was awarded the title of professor of musical arts. In 2003 she has been appointed Associate Professor. Since 2008 she has been a professor at the University of Music of Fryderyk Chopin in Warsaw, where she was a director of the Vocal Chair. Students prof. Bozena Betley have won national and international vocal competitions and her graduates sing in opera houses around the world.

Dr. Dr. Sylwia Burnicka - Kalischewska graduated from the State School of Music of Feliks Nowowiejski in Szczecin in the solo singing class of prof. Andrzej Kwiczała. She graduated from the Faculty of Russian Language and Applied Linguistics at Warsaw University (1996). In 1997 she graduated with distinction from the Academy of Music of Frederic Chopin in Warsaw in the solo singing class of prof. Urszula Trawińska-Moroz. In 2002 she completed her doctoral studies at the Faculty of Applied Linguistics and East Slavonic Philology at Warsaw University and she received the academic degree of Doctor of Humanities. In 2012 she received the academic degree of Doctor of Arts of Music in the Arts "Vokalistik" at the Academy of Music of Grażyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz in Łódź. She participated in master classes conducted by prof. Ryszard Karczykowski, Maestra Maria Fołtyn, prof. Bożena Betley. The first stage experience she gained during numerous tour with the Polish Music Theatre in Warsaw. The most frequently performed roles in a stage andas a concert are: I, II, III Lady of "Magic Flute", Donna Elvira in the opera „Don Giovanni”, Countess Almaviva in „The Marriage of Figaro” by W.A . Mozart, Rosalinda in „Die Fledermaus” by J. Strauss, Maggie and Gertrude in „Hänsel and Gretel” by E. Humperdinck, Leonora in „Il Trovatore”, Amelia in „Masquerade ball” by G. Verdi. She has given concerts with many orchestras f.e. Szczecin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of Academy of Music in Warsaw, Budapest National Philharmonic Orchestra. She sang under the baton of Henryk Czyż, prof. Ryszard Dudek, Andrzej Knapp, Wojciech Szaliński, Zbigniew Powolny, Bogdan Hoffmann, Eugeniusz Kus, Antal Barnas, Friedmar Bellmann, Włodzimierz Porczyński and other conductors. She has performed as soloist at the Polish stages: the National Theatre in Warsaw, Theatre „Na Woli” in Warsaw, the Grand Theatre in Poznan, Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz, as well as on the stages of opera houses in Germany: Bremen, Hannover, Hamburg, Erlangen, Saarbrücken, Stuttgart , Wuppertal, Kiel, Münster, Mannheim, Regensburg, Dortmund, Hamm, Osnabruck, Schwedt, Lübeck, and many other cities. In 1997-2004 she worked as a soloist in the Powszechny Theatre of Zygmunt Hübner in Warsaw. She played a role of Sophie de Palma, a pupil of Maria Callas, in the „Maria Callas- masterclass” of Terrence McNally (with Krystyna Janda and Cezary Zak). At the same time she was also a soloist in the Warsaw Philharmonic with which she toured throughout Poland. The artist was invited to participate in many important festivals. She had guest performances at the XXXVII Festival of Stanislaw Moniuszko in Kudowa Zdrój, V Opera Festival in Bydgoszcz, II Opera Meeting in Grudziądz, VII and VIII Festival of Peace in Jawor and Usedomer Musikfestival. She has performed in Poland, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, and France (Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris), Austria (Konzerthaus, Vienna) and the U.S.A. (Copernicus Center in Chicago). Sylwia Burnicka - Kalischewska made many recordings for radio and television. Since 2002 she has been teaching solo singing at a music school Kreismusikschule Uecker - Randow in Ueckermünde. In 2004-2005 she collaborated as a teacher of solo singing with a music school Musikschulzweckverband „Kon.centus” in Neubrandenburg. Her students have won German local and international vocal competitions.

Prof. Renate Faltin she was born in Parchim in Mecklenburg. After she had finished school she studied singing at the Academy of Music of Hanns Eisler in Berlin. In 1969 -1990 she was engaged as a coloratura soprano in many musical theaters and opera houses such as: Musical Theatre in Leipzig, Stralsund, Neustrelitz, Schwerin, Rostock, Halle, as well as the National Operetta in Dresden State Opera in Berlin and Metropol Theatre. You can hear Renate Faltin in oratorio repertoire and songs in Germany, Hungary, Poland and Italy even now. Since 1970 she has had master classes in Germany, Holland, Italy, Japan and China. Currently she is working on the theoretical foundations of vocal learning and training singers, singing teachers and phoniatres. She is co-founder of Scientific Vocal Symposia in Berlin. She regularly presents papers on”The day of voice in Stuttgart”. Her book on the art of solo singing „Learn singing? Yes, but logically!” appeared in third edition. The beginning of her teaching activities was to become an aspirant in Music Academy of Hanns Eisler in Berlin in 1976 and then an assistant and in 1992 a professor in that academy. Among the students of prof. Renate Faltin there are many winners of international competitions.

Friederike Meinel studied first at the Berlin Academy of Art with Ingrid Figur and then with Rudolf Piernay in Mannheim. In 2002 she made her concert exam. She was a listener durig master classes with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Aribert Reimann for many years. Ingrid Bjoner and Helmut Kretschmar were also teachers very important to her. Major influence on the development of the singer had master classes led by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Ingrid Bjoner. Mezzo-soprano won in international competitions such as the Vocal Competition of Paula Lindberg - Salomon whether Yamaha Vocal Competition and among others she sang on the stage of the Bavarian National Theater in Munich, Dresden Semperoper, Opera Theatre in Cologne and during the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. She made her debut in the title role of the opera “Penthesilea – Dream” under the direction of Ulf Schirmer during the Wiener Festwochen. Friederike Meinel has worked in the field of opera with conductors as Jun Märkl, Marc Albrecht, Peter Schneider and Jeffrey Tate. She has performed with the following orchestras: the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian National Orchestra, Orchestra Gürzenich in Cologne, Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra. She has performed in the Berlin Philharmonic, the Rudolfinum in Prague, Cuvilliés Theatre in Munich, Prinzregententheater Theatre in Munich, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Big Hall of the West German Radio in Cologne, Chamber Opera Rheinsberg Castle and in the Spring of Heidelberg. She participated in many CD recordings. One of her recitals, which was held in Cologne Philharmonic and the West German Radio in Cologne, was a concert of songs by Franz Schubert conducted by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and a performance during the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. Since 2008 she has been a patron of the German project “Children help children - music creates the future” for the Children’s Aid Society “Catania” (help for traumatized victims).

American soprano Janet Williams has won international critical acclaim for performances at the Metropolitan Opera, Berliner Stadtsoper, Paris Opera, Thèâtre des Champs Elysée, Opera de Lyon, Nice Opera, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Geneva Opera, Frankfurt Opera, Cologne Opera, Leipzig Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington Opera, Dallas Opera and Michigan Opera Theatre as well as in concerts throughout Europa, North America, Canada, Israel and Japan with conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Barenboim, Myung Whung Chung, Phillippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Marek Janowski, Neemi Jarvi, Raymond Leppard, Fabio Luisi, Sir Neville Marriner, Nicholas McGegan, Zubin Mehta, Kent Nagano, John Nelson, Donald Runnicles, Gerard Schwarz and Michael Tilson Thomas. Janet Williams has appeared with the Israel Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, The Chicago Symphony, the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York and Tokyo, the New World Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the New York, Los Angeles, Santa Fe Chamber Orchestras, as well as with orchestras throughout Europe in repertoire ranging from Bach und Mozart to contemporary works of living composers. Her interpretations as a recitalist have been critically acclaimed in New York, San Francisco, Washington D. C. and Detroit and as well as Berlin, Paris, Tokyo and in Iceland. Ms. Williams' professional carreer began with the San Francisco Opera Center as a member of the Merola Program. She was awarded an Adler Fellowship and subsequently appeared with the company as guest artist singing leading roles in the operas of Mozart, Puccini, Händel and Rossini. She was a member of the Berlin Staatsoper ensemble, making a critically acclaimed debut as Cleopatra in Carl Heinrich Graun's Cleopatra e Cesare. Other roles in her repertoire include Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Konstanze and Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Adina in L'Elisir d'amore, Änchen in Der Freischütz, Adele in Die Fledermauß, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Seviglia, Musetta in La Boheme, Gilda in Rigoletto, Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera and Nannetta in Falstaffas as well as the Jungfrau in Stravinsky's Moses und Aron and Manon in Henze's Boulevard Solitude. She is especially acclaim for leading roles in the baroque operas of Händel, Telemann, Gassmann and Stradella at the Händel Festival in Halle, the Festwochen der Alten Musik in Innsbruck, Austria; the Spoleto Festival Italy, the Schwetzingen Festival, the Wexford Festival in Ireland and the Styriarte Festival in Graz. Ms. Williams recently made her theatrical debut in Dante's La Vita Nova in a co-production of the Berlin Renaissance Theater and the Bayer-Leverkusen Kulturhaus. She has appeared in nationally and internationally televised specials, including the Kennedy Center Honors Concert in a tribute to honoree Marylin Horne, the PBS broadcast of the San Francisco Opera Gala co-hosted by Joan Sutherland and the ARTE film documentary L'Opera seria. She was featured in an Oscar-winning documentary of the San Francisco Opera Chorus as Musetta in Francesca Zambello's production of La Bohème. Her recordings include Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem with the Chicago Symphony under Daniel Barenboim, Händel's Messiah with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra under Nichalas McGegan, Graun's Cleopatra e Cesare with the Concerto Köln Orchestra under René Jacobs and Cimarosa's Il matrimonio segreto under Gabriele Bellini. Janet Williams holds Bachelor degree both Music Education and Vocal Performance from Indiana University, where she was a student and Assistant Instructor under Professor Camilla Williams. Other instructors or mentors have included world-renowned singers Regina Crespin, Kammersängerin Helen Donath, Kammersängerin Reri Grist and noted international vocal pedagogue David Jones. Janet Williams was recently named Guest Professor of the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin and is currently on the voice faculties of the Hochschule für Musik and Theater in Rostock and the Lotte Lehmann Summer Academy in Perleberg, Germany. She has presented master classes, seminars and workshops across the United States, as well as in London, Paris, Reykjavik and Berlin. Her book Nail Your Next Audition, The Ultimate 30-Day Guide for Singers has attracted a global following of young singers and voice professionals.

In 1997 she graduated with honors from Moscow State University of Culture of the Russian Federation in the "Art of Vocal". She has 20 years of experience in this specialty. In 2008 she completed postgraduate studies and she defended her doctoral thesis "Forming professional orientation of the student-musician as a psychological and pedagogical problem". She became a doctor of educational sciences. She has won international competitions and festivals. Dr. Natalia Nikulina is a professor of singing in the Choral Arts Academy of Viktor Popov in Moscow. She works also as a teacher of solo singing and vocal ensembles in the Moscow College of Music of Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin. Her wide methodical activities include consultation and artist master classes, review papers, speeches and lectures and the methodological lessons during the open methodical seminars. She partecipates actively in many educational and scientific-pedagogical conferences held in Russia and abroad. She was a jury member of numerous vocal competitions. Natalia Nikulina is the author of numerous articles and teaching aids. A lot of her students won regional and international vocal competitions. Thanks to a huge contribution for the continuation and development of education in the field of arts and culture she has often received honorable mentions and official thanks from the Russian Federation Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Culture of the Government of the Moscow Oblast, Krasnoyarsk country, the Department of Culture of the District of Briansk, the District of Tumensk and others. For her archievements in vocal education she was entered into Russian Enciclopedia "The Best People of Russia".

Prof. Jerzy Knetig had studied engineering at the Warsaw Polytechnic where he graduated in 1973. Then he went on studying solo singing under Eugenia Szaniawska at the Secondary Music School in Warsaw where he graduated with honours in 1977. That same year he began to take private singing lessons from Mieczyslaw Salecki and then Stanislawa Zawadzka. He finished the Academy of Music in Cracow with honours where he studied under Professor Helena Lazarska. In 1983/84 obtained a grant of one year from the Austrian government and went to the College of Music in Vienna to improve his skills under Kurt Egniluz. Jerzy Knetig has worked with the National Philharmonic in Warsaw since 1981 and the Cracow Opera since 1982. He joined the Warsaw Chamber Opera as a soloist in 1986 and he has travelled all over Europe with it. He has sung at many festivals, e.g., Wratislavia Cantans, Warsaw Autumn, Berliner Festwochen, Caryntiche Sommer, Salzburger Festspiele, The European Music Festival in Berlin and Tokyo, and the Monreale Oratory Music Festival in Palermo. He has been invited to sing in operas and oratory concerts in many countries in Europe, Japan (where he did an opera tour singing Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" in November and December 1999) and Israel. He has sung at the La Scala, the Wiener Staatsoper and the Theater an der Wien. Jerzy Knetig has recently taken part in the official inauguration concert of the "Krzysztof Penderecki year" at the Cracow Philharmonic, conducted by Jan Krentz (Beethoven's Ninth Symphony). Jerzy Knetig's repertory includes several dozen of operas (mostly Mozart), about 110 oratory parts (including both of Bach's Passions) and over 300 songs. He has also made numerous radio and disc recordings( including the archival recording of all the songs of Ignacy Jan Paderewski). In 1991 Jerzy Knetig began to teach at the Warsaw University of Music where he has his own solo singing class. He has been a professor since 1999. His students have won many awards at Polish national vocal competitions. In 1996 Jerzy Knetig has also begun to teach singing at the Secondary Music School in Warsaw. He and his pupils produced Paisiello's full-scale opera Il due Contesse in April 1999. He was a head of the Chair of Vocal Studies at the FCAM in 2005-2008. In 2008 he was elected a dean of the Department of Vocal Studies.

Diego Crovetti, pianist and conductor, was born in Milano, Italy. After having studied piano in M?nchen (Germany) and Milano, havig graduated at Conservatorio Verdi he mastered in the field of opera and orchestral conducting. He studied also musicology and literature at Milano State University. As a pianist he accompanied many vocal concerts and opera shows all around Italy and Europe (Germany, Austria, France, Swiss, Spain) and Asia (China, Korea, Japan), playing with such singers as Barbara Frittoli, Katia Ricciarelli, Jose' Cura, Giuseppe Giacomini, Giacomo Aragall, Salvatore Licitra etc. In 1997-2001 he worked as an opera-coach at Graz Opera House (Austria) and he was also an assistant of such conductors as Ulf Schirmer, Gunter Neuhold, Anton Guadagno and Maestro Riccardo Chailly at the Milano Verdi Symphony Orchestra. He was also a guest of other theaters like Tokyo National Theatre, Teatro alla Scala (for "West Side Story"), Teatro Sociale di Como. He teaches an opera interpretation for singers and orchestral and chorus conducting at Accademia Donizetti in Masate (Milano) and he holds many masterclasses in Italy, Austria, Japan, China, Korea. He is invited as a Jury at many important singing competitions such as "Aslico" in Como, "Tagliavini" in Deutschlandsberg (Austria), "Viotti" in Vercelli, "Zandonai" (2010 special edition at Shanghai Expo), "Bellini" in Caltanissetta. He made his debut as a conductor with "Philarmonia Mediterranea Orchestra" at the 1st Calabria Opera Festival in Cosenza (Italy). In 2002-2006 he conducted many vocal concerts tours in Swiss, Germany, Austria, appearing also in important concert-halls such as Frankfurt "Alte Oper", Muenchen "Herkulessaal", Zuerich "Tonhalle". In 2002 he had his opera debut with "AIDA" of Verdi at Heidelberg Arena (Germany). He followed many opera productions in Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium f.e. "Aida", "Nabucco", "La Traviata", "Die Zauberflöte", "Die Czardasfürstin". In 2004 he conducted "Tosca" at Busan Opera House (Korea) with Seoul Philarmonic Orchestra and in 2006 he made his USA debut with "Pagliacci" and "Lucia di Lamermoor" at Grand Opera Theatre in Wichita, Kansas. In the same year he conducted "Tosca" in Como and "Carmen" in Milano. In 2007 after "Macbeth" of Verdi in Spain (Madrid, Zaragoza, Toledo) and "Barbiere di Siviglia" in Latina, he conducted "Aida" at the important Avenches Arena Opera Festival. In 2008-2011 he prepared various productions as "Tosca" and "Aida" at the Cheliabinsk Opera Festival (Russia), "Carmen" and "Traviata" at Busan Opera House, "Cavalleria Rusticana", "Barbiere di Siviglia", "Elisir d'amore", "Rigoletto" in Milano and in Sicily, "Traviata" at Daegu Opera House (live broadcast by MBC TV) and Seoul Arts Center (Korea) where he will be back next year. His next production will be "Il Trovatore" at Rho Auditorium Milano and in december 2011 he will debut with Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana at Teatro Politeama in Palermo. In 2009 he recorded a CD of "Cavalleria Rusticana" of Mascagni with the Italian Philharmonic Orchestra.