Dorota Sobieska, together with her husband Jacek Sobieski, founded Opera Circle in 1995, serving as its executive director. Sobieska appeared in solo recitals, with ensembles and orchestra in The United States, Poland, Germany, and Canada. With her husband, Jacek Sobieski, at the piano she is frequently heard throughout Northeastern Ohio. Best known for her bel-canto roles, she performed six Bellini heroines (Amina, Elvira, Giulietta, Norma, Alaide, Imogene) numerous Mozart roles, and a variety of other opera composers with Opera Circle, with which she also stage directed many productions.
She holds a doctoral degree in English from Kent State University (with an interdisciplinary dissertation on British Romantic poetry, music, and philosophy of art), an Artist Diploma in voice from the F. Chopin School of Music in Warsaw, Poland (five-year program), as well as two master's degrees, from the University of Warsaw and from Kent State University. Her work has been awarded twice by Northern Ohio Live and once by The Youngstown Vindicator. In 2005, she was accepted to the two-week Executive Program for Non-Profit Leaders—Arts at Stanford, restricted to 50 participants from all art disciplines, selected nationwide and abroad.
Recent stage appearances include the role of Violetta in La traviata in the production of the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra-Opera and the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute in Germany. She also sang a joint recital in April 2007 at Carnegie Hall: Zankel Hall in a program that included, among others, world-renowned bass Dimitri Kavrakos.
Jacek Sobieski, born in Poznan, Poland, is the fourth generation of a family of musicians and musicologists. He was music director of the National Theater in Warsaw, Poland, for almost two decades, with which he performed at such venues as the Aldwych Theatre in London, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, and many other major stages throughout Europe, including St. Petersburg and Moscow. He composed music to over ten productions staged in Poland, his scores receiving notable recognitions. At the National Theater, a production with his music reached such box office success of 600 performances of the same work. In 1977 he was awarded the honorary distinction Man of Merit in Culture by the Ministry of Culture and Art in Poland. Since 1988, he has resided in the United States where he has performed as a soloist and accompanist. With his wife, Dorota, he founded Opera Circle in 1995, musically directing and conducting over 20 opera productions, mostly Bellini and Mozart, as well as Moniuszko, Donizetti, and others. Currently, he is also Music Director of St. Charles Catholic Church in Boardman, Ohio. He holds a Master of Music degree from the State College of Music in Warsaw, Poland.