Since 2001, he has been professionally associated with the Silesian Philharmonic Choir, first as a chorister, and since 2009 as the ensemble’s artistic director and conductor. He has prepared the choir to perform with the greatest masters of the baton, such as Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk, Jan Wincenty Hawel, Jan Krenz, Antoni Wit, Krzysztof Penderecki, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Marek Pijarowski, Tadeusz Wojciechowski, Juozas Domarkas, Mykola Diadiura, Michael Zilm, Massimiliano Caldi, Paul McCreesh and Daniel Reuss. Jarosław Wolanin has significantly expanded the repertoire of the Silesian Philharmonic Choir, also in the field of a cappella music, from early to contemporary pieces, from Gregorian chant to two- and three-choir music. Together with the ensemble, he has performed many premieres of the latest Polish music.
Wolanin is a doctor of arts in conducting. Graduating from the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, he earned a diploma in two specialties. The first was choral conducting, which he graduated with honors (2002) after studying in Prof. Jan Wojtacha’s class. A year later, the artist received a diploma in saxophone performance in Bernard Steuer’s class, and in earlier years he graduated with honors from the State School of Music of the First and Second Degree in Sanok in Wieslaw Brudek’s saxophone class. Wolanin is the winner of many music competitions, and in the 2001/2002 academic year was the recipient of a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.
Since 1999, Wolanin has led various choirs in Upper Silesia. From 2003 to 2018, he was the conductor of the “Sinfonietta Sonora” Orchestra of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. In 2006-2008 he taught conducting at the Jazz Institute, and since 2003 he has also been teaching at music schools, teaching saxophone.
The artist gives concerts not only in Poland but also abroad, performing in Germany, the Czech Republic and France. In 2014, he was awarded a Silver Badge of Honour for Merit to the Silesian Voivodeship, and in 2020 – a Gloria Artis Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture.