Born in Warsaw into a family of musicians, Jan Petryka studied cello at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz and at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. Alongside his studies, he received his first singing lessons with Gertrud Schulz and later studied with Rotraud Hansmann at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, graduating with distinction in the lieder and oratorio class under the guidance of Marjana Lipovšek. After participating in sacred music projects since beginning his studies, the tenor has gradually established himself as a versatile concert and oratorio singer.

Baroque music remains a key part of Jan Petryka's performing career. Ensembles such as the Bach Consort Wien, Orchester Wiener Akademie, L'Orfeo Barockorchester, Concerto Stella Matutina, La Chapelle Rhénane, Le Concert de l'Hostel Dieu, Solamente Naturali, Collegium Vocale Luzern and Arte dei Suonatori are among the tenor’s regular and long-standing collaborations, while numerous projects with the ensembles Cinquecento Renaissance Vokal and Clemecic Consort further enrich his repertoire.

Jan’s intensive work in lied and vocal chamber music has additionally led to fruitful collaborations with Robert Holl, Helmut Deutsch, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Roger Vignoles, Matthias Lademann and David Lutz. He debuted several Schubert programmes to a resounding success at the Oxford International Song Festival, accompanied by Julius Drake, Sholto Kynoch and Deirdre Brenner.

On the opera stage, Jan Petryka has interpreted the roles of Tamino and Erster Geharnischter in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Opéra National de Lyon, together with those of Pietro and Ein Jüngling in Franz Schreker's Die Gezeichneten. Further engagements took him to the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara for Ferdinando Bertoni's Orfeo ed Euridice, to the Theater an der Wien for Schubert's Lazarus, to the Vienna State Opera for Wilfried Hiller's children's opera Das Traumfresserchen, and to the Warsaw Chamber Opera for Handel's Ariodante. He also made his debut at the Prague National Theatre as the Novice in Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd, further appearing as Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Israel Chamber Orchestra and as Jaquino in Beethoven's Fidelio at Styriarte in Graz under the direction of Andrés Orozco-Estrada.

Other career highlights to date include Jan’s debut at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg accompanied by Sir András Schiff, several European tours with Thomas Hengelbrock and the Balthasar Neumann Choir & Ensemble, a concert performance of Gottfried von Einem's opera Der Prozess at the Vienna Konzerthaus and Bach's cantata Christen, ätzet diesen Tag (BWV 63) conducted by Vladimir Jurowski at the Berlin Philharmonie. He also performed with the Zürcher Sing-Akademie as the Evangelist in Bach's St Matthew Passion at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre and in Bach's Christmas Oratorio at the Vienna Musikverein.

Jan Petryka made his successful debut at the Salzburg Festival as Jacob in Leonard Ever's children's opera Gold! and was subsequently also heard there in concert performances of Richard Strauss' Capriccio under Christian Thielemann. At the Salzburg Whitsun Festival, he made his debut as the tenor in Mozart's Mass in C minor under the direction of Gianluca Capuano.

Projects in the previous and current season include Lortzing's Der Waffenschmied and a new production of Vicente Martín y Solér's L'arbore di Diana at the Theater an der Wien, Mozart's Coronation Mass with the Vienna Academy Orchestra under Martin Haselböck and Bach's St Matthew Passion with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Peter Dijkstra, in addition to song and ensemble recitals at the Schubertiade Hohenems, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Musikverein Regensburg, the Heidelberger Frühling festival and the Fundació Victoria de los Ángeles in Barcelona. Jan Petryka toured Europe with Jordi Savall and his ensemble Le Concert des Nations as the Evangelist in Bach's St John Passion, while at the Leipzig Bach Festival he took part in Bach's St Matthew Passion with the Czech Collegium 1704 under Václav Luks.

Future projects include Haydn's The Creation under Martin Haselböck at the Vienna Musikverein and Bruckner's Mass in F minor with the Zürcher Sing-Akademie under Florian Helgath.

2024 | 2025

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