Anna Maria Jopek

Anna Maria Jopek (born 14 December 1970) is a Polish vocalist, songwriter, and improviser. She represented her country in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Ale jestem" and finished 11th out of 25 participating acts; and in 2002, she collaborated on an album with jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. She has received numerous awards for her music, including Michel Legrand's Personal Award in Vitebsk in 1994, as well as all of the awards for music in Poland, together with gold and platinum records. She is the daughter of Mazowsze singer Stanisław Jopek (1935–2006), known as the "First Coachman of Poland" for his signature song "Furman" (The Coachman), and former Mazowsze dancer Maria Stankiewicz. Her 1999 Christmas album, Dzisiaj z Betleyem, features two duets with her father. Anna Maria's sister, Patrycja is a violinist. Anna Maria Jopek records and tours all over the world with the most outstanding artists of our times. In Poland she had the honor of singing with Marek Grechuta, Jeremi Przybora or Wojciech Młynarski. Abroad she shared the stage with Pat Metheny, Youssu'n Dour, Bobby McFerrin, Ivan Linz, Branford Marsalis, Nigel Kennedy, Richard Bona, Oscar Castro-Neves, Makoto Ozone and Gonzalo Rubalcaba among others. In 2017 Anna also spontaneously sung a duet with Sting at a New Year's TV program. Anna Maria Jopek has performed at the world's most renowned concert halls such as: Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Royal Festival Hall, Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, Blue Note Tokyo, The Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv or Hamer Hall in Melbourne. She recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World studio, Abbey Road in London and Power Station in New York. In 2015 she received Knight's Cross Order of Polonia Restituta conferred by President Bronisław Komorowski for promoting Polish art worldwide. In 2019 Anna Maria Jopek released new album “Ulotne” (Elusive) with Branford Marsalis. Currently, she is working on a new concert project titled “Przestworza” (The Expanses). In March 2020, she is starting this tour at Poland's most popular concert venues. Over the past few years, Anna has been experimenting with various stage forms. She has performed in “Czas Kobiety” (A Woman's Time), a play staged at Teatr Stary in Lublin, directed by the legend of Polish theatre – professor Leszek Mądzik. The music was written by Anna Maria Jopek and Robert Kubiszyn. In 2014, she accepted Song of the Goat Theatre's invitation to perform in an oratory “Return to the Voice.” They held a series of performances over a month as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she was noticed by Michael Hirst, creator of HISTORY's flagship series "Vikings.” The producers offered her to record a song to be featured in the show.