Polish female songbirds have found chart-topping success
Polka Road
by Basia Szydlowski
Today, I am taking a little detour while looking into Poland's female musical artists but only mentioning a few.
One of the most famous female Polish singers known for her unusual stage personality is Ewa Demarczyk, born in Krakow, Poland in 1941. She was recognized as one of the most talented and charismatic singers in the history of Polish music.
Ewa worked in the genre of sung poetry drawn from inspiration of the classical Polish poets. Her performances and song were an emotional, dramatic representation. Her first successful performance was at the 1963 National Festival of Polish Song in Opole, where she received an award for the song " Karuzela z madonnami."
In 1967 she released her first album "Ewa Demarczyk spiewa piosenki Zygmunta Koniecznego." It was a success and later certified platinum for selling over 1000,00 copies.
In 1979 she was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. Her 1982 live album titled "Live" was a big success achieving gold certification in Poland. However, in the mid-1980s Ewa founded her own theatre in Krakow that failed.
Ewa gave her last concert on Nov. 8, 1999 at the Grand Theatre in Poznan and afterwards she withdrew from public life. In 2001 a foundation, Teatr Ewy Demarczyk was created. In 2005 Ewa received the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture-Gloria Artis. She died on Aug. 14, 2020 at the age of 79.
• • •
Born in 1945 in Zielona, Poland was Maria Antonina Rodowicz who would become the singer, actress and guitarist known as Maryla Rodowicz. Her career began in 1967, after winning first prize at the Festiwal Piosenki i Piosenkarzy Studenckich (Student Songs and Singers Festival) in Krakow and the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole.
Through a career that spanned over 50 years, she released 20 Polish and four foreign language studio albums including five platinum and three with gold certification plus selling over 15 million records. Her music is a blend of pop, rock, folk and poetry in song. Her most popular song in 1973 was "Malgoska" with lyrics by Agnieszka Osiecka. A year later during the World Cup opening ceremony in Munich, she performed a song "Futbol" (Football)."
Maryla remains one of the most prominent and successful artists in the history of popular music. Among the numerous award and decorations Maryla has received are the Gold Cross of Merit, Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, and the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture-Gloria Artis for her contributions and promotion of Poland.
• • •
Zuzanna Irena Grabowska (Jurczak) of Warsaw, Poland is known to fans as Sanah. The Polish singer, songwriter, violinist and composer is famous for her blend of indie pop, art pop and electro-pop music.
Sanah began playing the violin at the age of 4, piano at 5 and enrolled in music schools at 6. From 2004 to 2013, Sanah attended the Grazyna Bacewicz State Music School Complex in Warsaw. During this period she auditioned for a chamber quartet at the ZPOSM. The next three years she studied at Zenon Brzewski General Secondary Music School.
In 2019 she defended her bachelor's thesis in violin class at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. In 2021, Sanah obtained her master's degree in instrumental music from the same university.
Her first album "Krolowa dram" was released in 2020 and since she has released studio albums "Irenka" in 2021 and "Uczta" in 2022. All reached number one in Poland and certified diamond by the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
She played the violin at the Zenon Brzewski Graduation Concert as well as qualified for the semi-finals for the international Songwriting Competition with the song "Rehab" in two categories Pop/Top 40 and Unfinished. As a single, the song was released in April 2017 and Jurczak took the pseudonym Ayreen at the time. It was her only music release under this alias, whereby she put her career on hold for a year.
In 2022, Sanah was nominated in two categories for Empik Bestsellers. She won the category "Pop/rock music" with the album "Irenka."
• • •
Anna Maria Jopek, singer, musician and songwriter was born in Warsaw, Poland with music in her blood, for she is the daughter of Mazowsze singer Stanislaw Jopek. She is recognized for her blend of world music, jazz and pop. Anna Maria represented Poland in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with her hit "Ale Jestem" and finished in 11th place. In 2002. she collaborated on an album with jazz guitarist Pat Methany.
She has received numerous awards for her music, including Michel Legrand's Personal Award in Vitebsk in 1994, as well as all of the music awards in Poland, together with gold and platinum records.
In her career, the singer has released 12 solo albums, and in 2015 she was the recipient of the Knights Cross Order of Polonia Restituta for promoting Polish art worldwide. In 2017, Anna Maria also sung a duet with Sting on a New Year's TV program. And, to only mention a few places, she performed in Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl and the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv.
In 2019 Anna Maria released a new album "Ulotne" (Elusive) with Branford Marsalis. Currently, she is working on a new concert project title "Przestworza" (The Expanses).
• • •
The international sensation Basia was born in Jaworzno, Poland in 1954 as Barbara Stanislawa Trzetrzelewska. She began singing professionally in Polish bands during the late 1960s and through the 1970s. In 1981, leaving Poland she moved to the UK to become part of the British Trio Matt Bianco. Basia is known for pop, jazz, samba, soul and swing. Her eight albums take inspiration from American and Latin American music, but she adds traditional Polish touches to each song.
Her first solo album "Time and Tide" was released in 1987 and met with mixed commercial success. The song "Time and Tide" was Basia's first hit on Billboard Hot 100 in 1988, followed by "New Day for You" and "Promises" reaching the top 10 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1989. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in November 1989 for selling one million copies in the U.S. alone, while worldwide, it sold almost two million copies.
Another success album was "London Warsaw New York" selling over two million units worldwide, including more than one million in the U.S. earning Basia her second platinum certification. Also in 1990 it became Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Album. The third album "The Sweetest Illusion" was released in 1994 and she embarked on a long tour in the U.S., Japan and Europe, where she played her first ever solo concerts in Poland.
In 2014, she was awarded with the Commander's Cross of Polonia Restituta for promoting Polish culture worldwide, and the following year she received the Medal for Merit to Culture-Gloria Artis.
by Basia Szydlowski
Today, I am taking a little detour while looking into Poland's female musical artists but only mentioning a few.
One of the most famous female Polish singers known for her unusual stage personality is Ewa Demarczyk, born in Krakow, Poland in 1941. She was recognized as one of the most talented and charismatic singers in the history of Polish music.
Ewa worked in the genre of sung poetry drawn from inspiration of the classical Polish poets. Her performances and song were an emotional, dramatic representation. Her first successful performance was at the 1963 National Festival of Polish Song in Opole, where she received an award for the song " Karuzela z madonnami."
In 1967 she released her first album "Ewa Demarczyk spiewa piosenki Zygmunta Koniecznego." It was a success and later certified platinum for selling over 1000,00 copies.
In 1979 she was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. Her 1982 live album titled "Live" was a big success achieving gold certification in Poland. However, in the mid-1980s Ewa founded her own theatre in Krakow that failed.
Ewa gave her last concert on Nov. 8, 1999 at the Grand Theatre in Poznan and afterwards she withdrew from public life. In 2001 a foundation, Teatr Ewy Demarczyk was created. In 2005 Ewa received the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture-Gloria Artis. She died on Aug. 14, 2020 at the age of 79.
• • •
Born in 1945 in Zielona, Poland was Maria Antonina Rodowicz who would become the singer, actress and guitarist known as Maryla Rodowicz. Her career began in 1967, after winning first prize at the Festiwal Piosenki i Piosenkarzy Studenckich (Student Songs and Singers Festival) in Krakow and the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole.
Through a career that spanned over 50 years, she released 20 Polish and four foreign language studio albums including five platinum and three with gold certification plus selling over 15 million records. Her music is a blend of pop, rock, folk and poetry in song. Her most popular song in 1973 was "Malgoska" with lyrics by Agnieszka Osiecka. A year later during the World Cup opening ceremony in Munich, she performed a song "Futbol" (Football)."
Maryla remains one of the most prominent and successful artists in the history of popular music. Among the numerous award and decorations Maryla has received are the Gold Cross of Merit, Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, and the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture-Gloria Artis for her contributions and promotion of Poland.
• • •
Zuzanna Irena Grabowska (Jurczak) of Warsaw, Poland is known to fans as Sanah. The Polish singer, songwriter, violinist and composer is famous for her blend of indie pop, art pop and electro-pop music.
Sanah began playing the violin at the age of 4, piano at 5 and enrolled in music schools at 6. From 2004 to 2013, Sanah attended the Grazyna Bacewicz State Music School Complex in Warsaw. During this period she auditioned for a chamber quartet at the ZPOSM. The next three years she studied at Zenon Brzewski General Secondary Music School.
In 2019 she defended her bachelor's thesis in violin class at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. In 2021, Sanah obtained her master's degree in instrumental music from the same university.
Her first album "Krolowa dram" was released in 2020 and since she has released studio albums "Irenka" in 2021 and "Uczta" in 2022. All reached number one in Poland and certified diamond by the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
She played the violin at the Zenon Brzewski Graduation Concert as well as qualified for the semi-finals for the international Songwriting Competition with the song "Rehab" in two categories Pop/Top 40 and Unfinished. As a single, the song was released in April 2017 and Jurczak took the pseudonym Ayreen at the time. It was her only music release under this alias, whereby she put her career on hold for a year.
In 2022, Sanah was nominated in two categories for Empik Bestsellers. She won the category "Pop/rock music" with the album "Irenka."
• • •
Anna Maria Jopek, singer, musician and songwriter was born in Warsaw, Poland with music in her blood, for she is the daughter of Mazowsze singer Stanislaw Jopek. She is recognized for her blend of world music, jazz and pop. Anna Maria represented Poland in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with her hit "Ale Jestem" and finished in 11th place. In 2002. she collaborated on an album with jazz guitarist Pat Methany.
She has received numerous awards for her music, including Michel Legrand's Personal Award in Vitebsk in 1994, as well as all of the music awards in Poland, together with gold and platinum records.
In her career, the singer has released 12 solo albums, and in 2015 she was the recipient of the Knights Cross Order of Polonia Restituta for promoting Polish art worldwide. In 2017, Anna Maria also sung a duet with Sting on a New Year's TV program. And, to only mention a few places, she performed in Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl and the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv.
In 2019 Anna Maria released a new album "Ulotne" (Elusive) with Branford Marsalis. Currently, she is working on a new concert project title "Przestworza" (The Expanses).
• • •
The international sensation Basia was born in Jaworzno, Poland in 1954 as Barbara Stanislawa Trzetrzelewska. She began singing professionally in Polish bands during the late 1960s and through the 1970s. In 1981, leaving Poland she moved to the UK to become part of the British Trio Matt Bianco. Basia is known for pop, jazz, samba, soul and swing. Her eight albums take inspiration from American and Latin American music, but she adds traditional Polish touches to each song.
Her first solo album "Time and Tide" was released in 1987 and met with mixed commercial success. The song "Time and Tide" was Basia's first hit on Billboard Hot 100 in 1988, followed by "New Day for You" and "Promises" reaching the top 10 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1989. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in November 1989 for selling one million copies in the U.S. alone, while worldwide, it sold almost two million copies.
Another success album was "London Warsaw New York" selling over two million units worldwide, including more than one million in the U.S. earning Basia her second platinum certification. Also in 1990 it became Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Album. The third album "The Sweetest Illusion" was released in 1994 and she embarked on a long tour in the U.S., Japan and Europe, where she played her first ever solo concerts in Poland.
In 2014, she was awarded with the Commander's Cross of Polonia Restituta for promoting Polish culture worldwide, and the following year she received the Medal for Merit to Culture-Gloria Artis.