"She is one of the most outstanding and fascinating artists of the younger generation. Her creations and remarkable performances are the prelude to a tremendous career. The combination of an excellent technique with musicality, sensitivity, diligence and a great love for the art of flute playing form a combination of elements that few possess." -Paweł Gusnar, luminary of Polish music
Marianna Julia Żołnacz was born in Warsaw in 1999. She has been studying at the Mozarteum in Salzburg in the class of Prof. Michael Martin Kofler since 2015, where she began a master’s program after receiving her bachelor’s degree in 2020. At the same time, she completed another master’s degree at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw under Maria Peradzyńska, graduating with the highest honors. At the age of 23, she won the audition for the position of principal flutist with the Dresden Philharmonic.
Marianna Żołnacz has won prizes in more than 50 national and international competitions, including eight Grand Prix awards. Among her most significant achievements are first prize at the 2018 Guangzhou International Flute Competition in China, second prize at the 2019 International Carl Nielsen Competition in Odense, and third prize at both the 2017 and 2022 Kobe International Flute Competitions in Japan.
As a soloist, she has performed with numerous orchestras in Poland and abroad, including the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Polish National Orchestra, the Slovak State Philharmonic in Košice, the Kobe Ensemble, the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic, and the Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra. In doing so, she has collaborated with conductors including Felix Mildenberger, Michał Dworzyński, Paweł Kapuła, Hiroshi Sekiya, Tadahiro Yano, Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk, Marzena Diakun, Łukasz Borowicz, Michał Klauza, Rafał Delekta, Gergely Menesi, and Mirko Krajci.
Marianna Żołnacz plays on a 14-karat gold flute headjoint made by Nagahara, which was provided to her by Sir James Galway.