Karoline Podolak is an award-winning Polish-Canadian soprano, who has followed a unique career path. She most recently was winner of the Grand Prix, Audience Choice Prize, Students’ Choice Prize and National Opera of Bordeaux Prize at the 2023 Nuits Lyriques Competition in Marmande, France, Grand Prize Winner at the 2023 George and Nora London Foundation Competition, First Prize and Audience Choice Prize Winner at the 2022 Canadian Opera Company Competition, and Second Prize Winner at the 2023 Loren L. Zachary Vocal Competition.
 
Born in Toronto, her passion for the arts began at a young age. She began her musical journey playing the violin and the guitar, and took part in local theatre productions. She completed an honours Dramatic Arts diploma at Cawthra Park Secondary School. She then completed an honours undergraduate degree at Ryerson University's RTA School of Media (Radio and Television Arts), and has years of extensive experience in the Canadian media industry. Interested in languages, Karoline is fluent in English and Polish, and has also completed a Certificate of Proficiency in French at Ryerson University. She has experience as an actress and in voiceover work, modelling, and is an award-winning photographer. During her undergraduate studies, she discovered her passion for classical singing through private lessons with Kinga Mitrowska, with whom she studies to this day. In 2019-2021, Karoline completed a Master’s degree in Opera Performance at the K. Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland, in the solo singing class of Ewa Biegas. There, she participated in several master classes with baritone Mariusz Kwiecień.  

 
Karoline has performed in concert in Canada and abroad, including with Toronto Concert Orchestra, Southern Ontario Lyric Opera, Toronto Sinfonietta (solo concert engagements included Faure’s Requiem and Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace), Celebrity Symphony Orchestra, Ryerson Oakham House Choir, Quo Vadis Choir and Camerata Ensemble, cycles of classical and musical theatre concerts organized by Kinga Mitrowska, Opera de San Miguel in Mexico, regular engagements at the Polish Consulate as well as Legislative Assembly of Ontario in Toronto, concerts with Symphony Orchestra of Zabrze Philharmonic, Silesian Philharmonic, and the All-Woman Salon Orchestra in Poland, as well as being featured as a soloist in the Congregation of Polish Choirs in Warsaw, Poland.

In November 2019, Karoline had her operatic debut at Silesian Opera House, as Zuzia in the academic premiere of Stanislaw Moniuszko’s Verbum Nobile. Following this success, in January 2020, she performed the role of Adele in Johann Strauss II’s operetta, Die Fledermaus, at Silesian Opera House. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, further scheduled roles and performances were canceled, including Mass in F by Józef Poniatowski, the role of Zdenka in W. Lirski’s operetta Die liebe Unschuld, and concerts in Poland’s Pszczyna Castle.

In 2021, Karoline was named as one of the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques of Théâtre Lyrichorégra 20, winning several international engagements in the 2022/2023 season. She performed in Opera de San Miguel in Mexico (January 2022), Bulgaria National Opera and Ballet as Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata (March 2022 and October 2022); Teatro Coccia in Novara as Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni (cancelled due to the pandemic), Augsburg Opera in Germany (June 2022), role study of Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale in Luxembourg, and has upcoming engagements in Italy’s Bologna Opera, France’s Massy Opera, and the Bravo Music Chicago in the US. Karoline has again been named as one of the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques of Théâtre Lyrichorégra 20, for the 2023/2024 season. She will perform at Daegu Opera in South Korea, Meininger Staatstheater in Germany, Festivals in Slovakia and as Norina in Don Pasquale in Luxembourg.
 
A successful competitor, Karoline won the 2023 George and Nora London Foundation Competition as well as First Prize and Audience Choice Prize at the 2022 Canadian Opera Company Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition. Karoline won First Prize at the 2021 Romuald Tesarowicz Vocal Competition at the Grand Theater in Łódź. She won the main Audience Award at the XVII Great Tenor Gala Festival in Ciechocinek, Poland. In 2021, she was also a semifinalist at Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino, Italy (CLIP), a finalist at the Toronto Mozart Vocal Competition, the Light Opera Video Contest in Michigan, and the Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský International Singing Competition in Slovakia. In 2022, Karoline won in the Toronto-Buffalo District at the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and received an Encouragement Award at the Great Lakes Region Round. She was also a Camille Coloratura Awards finalist and James Toland Vocal Arts Competition semifinalist. She is a 2022 Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation Grant Recipient.

Karoline has participated in various young artist programs, including the Stratford Summer Music Vocal Academy in the summer of 2021 and Sequenda Opera Studio of Luxembourg in the summer of 2022. Karoline is currently a young artist of the Atelier Lyrique of Opéra de Montréal in the 2022-2023 season. Roles have included The Princess/The Fire/The Nightingale in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, among other performances.

One day, Karoline hopes to be able to connect her experience in music and media by hosting her own radio or television show, showcasing the operatic world. Her experience in front and behind the camera and as a social media administrator propel her to become an ambassador for classical music. Karoline also deeply values being involved in charity, giving back, and music as a source of light. She strives to make a positive difference in everything she undertakes in her life.