“Dazzling and charismatic, with a well-honed technique, she navigated the difficulties and complexities of the recitatives and arias with confidence and authority from beginning to end.” – (Baroque Goes Nuts)
“… Margarita Slepakova was a delightful Dido, in the richness of the aliquots of her mezzo-soprano containing emotions absolutely consistent with her stage prowess.” – (A. Suprynowicz, Dwutygodnik)
“Her voice is of great elegance, firm and sonorous, with an excellent projection” – (Classique News)
“(…) my favorite, endowed with a remarkable tone of voice and full of charisma mezzo-soprano Margarita Slepakova (Cecilio, Opera Rara)” – (Mateusz Borkowski, Ruch Muzyczny)
Margarita Slepakova is a coloratura mezzo-soprano based in Basel and Warsaw. After graduating from Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and the prestigious Monteverdi Apprenticeship program under the guidance of Sir John Eliot Gardiner, she enjoys an international career as an opera, concert, and recital singer cooperating with ensembles and orchestras in Europe. She is also the founder and curator of the ensemble Le Sommeil.
Margarita is a laureate of the Remarkable programme by REMA (Réseau Européen de Musique Ancienne), and in 2025 won the Wratislavia Cantans Competition with her ensemble Le Sommeil during the festival’s 60th Jubilee Edition. She has also received 1st prize at the Austrian Baroque Academy Award (Austria), 1st prize at the London Music Competition (UK), 3rd prize at the St. Cecilia International Music Competition (Italy), 3rd prize at the IX ARS MUSICA International Music Festival and Vocal Competition (Poland), an Honorable Mention at the IV International Monika Swarowska-Walawska Vocal Competition & Festival (Poland), and was a finalist at the XV Concorso Internazionale di Canto Lyrica “Città di Brescia” (Italy).
She has worked with conductors including Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Pierlot, Alessandro Moccia, Dirk Vermeulen, Bart Naessens, Andrea de Carlo, René Jacobs, Andrea Marcon, Giovanni Antonini, Kent Nagano, Riccardo Minasi, Ivor Bolton, Kristiina Poska, Florian Helgath and ensembles: English Baroque Soloists (UK), B’Rock (BE), Ricercar Consort (BE), Capella Cracoviensis (PL), Arte dei Suonatori (PL), Mare Nostrum (IT), La Cetra (CH), Freiburger Barockorchester (DE), El Gran Teatro del Mundo (ES), and Barcelona Ars Nova (ES).
Margarita has performed in some of the most prestigious concerts halls including Carnegie Hall, Harris Theater Chicago, and in concert halls including Royal Albert Hall (BBC Proms), Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Musikverein Vienna, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, St.Petersburg State Capella, Palau di Musica Catalana, Mozarteum Salzburg, Philharmonies of Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Essen, Luxembourg and Budapest and opera houses of Zürich, Vienna, Basel, Antwerp, Ghent, Warsaw and Cracow.
She has recorded for Universal, Pentatone, Arcana- Outthere Music, Harmonia Mundi, Denovali Records, Wocomo Music Berlin and Netflix.
Margarita pursued her vocal studies in the prestigious Schola Cantorum Basiliensis obtaining two diplomas of Master (2018) and a Specialized Master of Arts (2019) in historical performance in the classes of Gerd Türk and Rosa Dominguez. Before, she got her Bachelor’s diploma in singing at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in a class of prof. Jadwiga Rappé and another bachelor’s diploma in Culture Studies at Warsaw University. She also developed her skills by taking lessons from Margreet Honig, Anita Garanča, Valerie Guillorit, and during masterclasses with René Jacobs, Andrea Marcon, and Raphaël Pichon. Presently, she is further developing her vocal skills with prof. Christian Hilz and receives regular coaching from dr. Flavio Ferri-Benedetti and Nadia Carboni.
The highlights of her 2026/2027 season include the release of Semele, Margarita Slepakova and Le Sommeil’s debut album for the leading classical music label Pentatone, accompanied by album release concerts at the Lublin Philharmonic, Polish Radio’s S1 Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio in Warsaw, broadcast live on Polish Radio, and Voltahalle Basel. Further engagements include Mozart’s Requiem with the Pomeranian Philharmonic, and a five-concert Norwegian tour of Handel’s Messiah with Det Norske Blåseensemble, directed by Peter Whelan, including a performance at the University Aula in Oslo.
Her opera engagements include the role of Erissena in Handel’s Poro with Capella Cracoviensis under the direction of Alessandro Tampieri at the Opera Rara Festival; the role of Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at Warsaw Chamber Opera; the role of Cecilio in Mozart’s Lucio Silla with Capella Cracoviensis at the Opera Rara Festival; the recording of the role of Lucinda in Alessandro Stradella’s Moro per Amore with Ensemble Mare Nostrum under the direction of Andrea De Carlo for Arcana / Outhere Music, followed by a series of performances in Italy; the alto solo part with B’Rock Orchestra at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Antwerp and Ghent in the production Cantus Firmus / Mea Culpa; and the role of Maria Maddalena in Handel’s La Resurrezione in Bern and Fribourg. Other stage appearances include the role of Poppea in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at Opernfest Berlin and Ariel in Purcell’s The Tempest at the Collegium Nobilium Theatre in Warsaw.
Her recent oratorio and concert engagements include Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at the Lublin Philharmonic, Bach’s Jesu, meine Freude and Ståle Kleiberg’s Requiem for the Victims of Nazi Persecution in Munich and Kempten, as well as a collaboration with the Constellation Choir and Orchestra under the direction of Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Her oratorio repertoire also includes Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s St John Passion, Mass in B minor, Weihnachtsoratoriumand Actus Tragicus, Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis, Saint-Saëns’s Oratorio de Noël, Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri, Porpora’s Salve Regina, Vivaldi’s Nisi Dominus and Stabat Mater, Brunetti’s Stabat Mater and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, among others, performed across Europe.
She is the founder and curator of Le Sommeil, an award-winning early music ensemble and interdisciplinary art project created with fellow graduates of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. In 2025, the ensemble premiered its programme Shadow Tricks at Schloss Rheinsberg. Later that year, Le Sommeil won the Wratislavia Cantans Competition and launched an eight-concert European tour at the 60th Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Wrocław, concluding with a concert at the National Forum of Music. The tour took place under the honorary patronage of the Institut Français. The ensemble subsequently signed with the leading classical music label Pentatone for its debut album Semele. Previously, its single Sur une mer was released by Universal Music and featured on the soundtrack of the film Wolf. The ensemble has also performed as part of the Freunde Alter Musik Basel concert series and at the Early Music Festival at Wilanów Palace in Warsaw. Le Sommeil seeks contemporary resonance for early music, drawing on myth, dreams and archetypes, and its concerts bring music into dialogue with light, text and fragrance.
Margarita’s recent recitals include a recital with El Gran Teatro del Mundo; a song recital with pianist Marek Bracha, featuring lieder by Mahler, Zemlinsky, Weinberg, Schubert and André Tchaikowsky; a recital with pianist Sharon Prushansky, featuring works by Rachmaninoff, Holst, Wolf, de Falla, Lutosławski and Pärt; and a programme of arias and songs by Henry Purcell at Baroque Vivant Basel.
She also performs contemporary music and has premiered works written especially for her, including a new piece by composer Stefan Wesołowski at the Eufonie International Music Festival in Warsaw. Her particular interest in combining elements of historical performance with contemporary art led to a collaboration with audio designer Clemens Fiechter and the creation of the sound installation Das Rezitativ, presented in contemporary art galleries in Vienna, London and Warsaw. Her other contemporary music collaborations include recording an album Heide with the experimental electronic project Nanook of the North and performances in Gdańsk at St John’s Centre and the Constellations Festival.