Outstanding Polish opera singer, also valued as an excellent interpreter of classical songs and contemporary music.
He is a graduate of the Warsaw Academy of Music in the vocal class of prof. Kazimierz Pustelak. The artist received the 1st prize at the Viotti International Vocal Competition in Vercelli, Italy and the Audience Award at the Alfredo Kraus Competition in Las Palmas.
Two-time winner of the Fryderyk Award: for the album with songs by P. Łukaszewski and with songs by H. M. Górecki; International Classical Music Awards for "Quo vadis" by Feliks Nowowiejski – the part of St. Peter, (Poznań Philharmonic and the Choir of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic conducted by Łukasz Borowicz) and the A. Hiolski Award for the role of Don Giovanni in the staging by M. Treliński at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw.
Soloist of the Warsaw Chamber Opera and the Grand Theatre and National Opera in Warsaw. He has travelled extensively abroad with the ensembles of these theatres.
Robert Gierlach has performed on prestigious opera stages and concert stages in Europe, North America and Japan. He has sung at Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Teatro dell’ Opera in Rome, Teatro dell’ Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Teatro G. Verdi in Trieste, Teatro alla Scala in Milan. In France, he has performed at such stages as: the Opera de Nice, the Opera de Marseille, the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris. In the United States, the artist has performed at the Detroit Opera House as Figaro in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro”. He also sang the role of Figaro at the Nico Theatre in Cape Town (South Africa), at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival and on the stages of the Grand Theatre in Geneva and the Grand Opera in Florida (Miami).
He also leads an active concert activity, collaborating with such ensembles as the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, NOSPR, Sinfonia Varsovia, Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, I Solisti Veneti, City of Birmingham Orchestra, Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Dresdner Rundfunk Orcheser, NHK Tokyo Orchestra.
The artist has participated in many music festivals, including the Salzburger Festspiele, BBC Proms (Royal Albert Hall), Berliner Festwoche and Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Wratislavia Cantans. He has collaborated with many famous conductors, such as: Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Nello Santi, Charles Dutoit, Jeffrey Tate, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, Claudio Scimone, Michele Plasson, Vladimir Jurovski, Daniele Gatti, Vladimir Gergiew, Christian Thielemann, Christopher Hogwood, Frans Bruggen, Massilmiliano Caldi, Jacek Kaspszyk, Jan Krenz, Kazimierz Kord, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Gabriel Chmura, Jerzy Semkow and Antoni Wit.
In the last dozen or so years, Robert Gierlach has performed with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, Opera du Montreal, Lyric Opera in Baltimore, the Flanders Opera in Antwerp, the New York City Opera, Tokyo-NHK, Opera Ottawa, Arizona Opera, Cleveland Opera and Opera Orlando. Robert Gierlach also performed on the stage of the famous Carnegie Hall in New York.
For several years he has been teaching a solo vocal class at the Vocal and Acting Department of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.