Paweł Żak graduated from Grażyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź, completing both first- and second-cycle studies between 2017 and 2023. He studied at the Faculty of Performing Arts, majoring in vocal and acting studies, in the singing class of the distinguished singer and teacher Professor Krzysztof Bednarek, PhD. He graduated with distinction.
Already in his second year of first-cycle studies, he made his debut in a student production of Stanisław Moniuszko’s opera Flis, performing the role of Franek. In subsequent years, he appeared in, among others, Joseph Haydn’s Il mondo della luna, singing the role of Ecclitico, one of the leading characters. The performances took place on the stage of the Academy of Music in Łódź and in Trondheim, Norway.
He also appeared at the seventh TRZY-CZTE-RY Festival in Warsaw, where he performed a solo part in the world premiere of Ryszard Alzin’s operatic miniature Report on the State of the Planet. His first major steps on the professional stage came during his final year of studies. Haydn’s Lo speziale was staged at Olavshallen in Trondheim, Norway, where Paweł Żak performed the role of Mengone. The production was directed by Eva Buchmann and conducted by Jan Willem de Vriend.
In the spring of the same year, 2023, he appeared at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, under the baton of Dmitry Matvienko, in Leoš Janáček’s opera From the House of the Dead, performing the role of the Young Prisoner. The production was directed by the eminent Polish director Krzysztof Warlikowski.
At the invitation of the Dutch Punto Arte Foundation, he took part in the Punto Arte Festival in 2023 and 2024. He was also a resident of the Regio Ensemble programme at Teatro Regio in Turin, designed for young singers from around the world. His time in Turin included work on opera projects such as Jacques Offenbach’s Un mari à la porte as Florestan, Giacomo Puccini’s La rondine as Gobin and Pierangelo Valtinoni’s Il piccolo principe as the Seller of Stars. He also appeared as Ernesto in an adaptation of Gaetano Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, entitled Don Pasquale raccontato ai ragazzi.
In May 2024, he appeared on the stage of Wrocław Opera as Lindoro in Rossini’s L'italiana in Algeri, directed by Waldemar Zawodziński and conducted by Georgios Balatsinos.
His artistic achievements also include performances of tenor parts in major oratorio works, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, K. 626, Joseph Haydn’s The Creation and George Frideric Handel’s Messiah.
He has had the honour of developing his vocal and acting skills under the guidance of and alongside outstanding teachers, directors, conductors and singers, including Raffael Cortesi, Santiago Ballerini, Piotr Miciński, Urszula Kryger, Liliana Krych, Luca Valentino, Claudio Fenoglio, Riccardo Bisatti, Anna Maria Bruzzese, Donato Renzetti, Francesco Lanzillotta, Pierre-Emmanuel Rousseau and many others.