Aleksandra Kwasniewska (born on 13 March 1978 in Bielawa) is a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 folk-pop singer. Since 2005 she has lived and worked in London. She recorded and released her debut album Island Girl with the band "The Belgian Sweets" in 2008. Kwasniewska is releasing her second album, The Sky is on Fire, in early 2012.

Education

Kwasniewska studied English language at Wroclaw University

Wroclaw University

The University of Wrocław is one of nine universities in Wrocław, Poland. Former, German university was founded in 1702 as Leopoldina, and re-founded in 1811 as Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau...

 in Poland, but she received her musical education at Jazz Faculty in Belgium. She graduated from the School of Popular Music in London and continues her studies at School for Singers in London, where she learns singing and song-writing.

Early Career

In 2004, Kwasniewska worked with a number of Belgian musicians on The Polish Folk Jazz Project, including jazz saxophone player John Snauwaert, pianist Christian Mendoza, drummer Giovanni Barcella and double bass player Koen Kimpe. Later Kwasniewska was recommended to the Belgian producer and song-writer Pedro DeBruyckere, who invited her to sing lead vocals on his album The Rosebud Orchestra. She would later collaborate with some of these artists on her own album.

Island Girl (2008)

Kwasniewska kept in touch with her Belgian contacts, and eventually reunited with DeBruyckere and Kimpe to record her debut album, Island Girl. Keyboardist Peter Ryckeboer and drummer Neils Delvaux were also brought on board with Kimpe as a part of The Belgian Sweets band. The ten track album was notable for including poetry by renowned writer Halina Poświatowska

Halina Poswiatowska

Halina Poświatowska - Polish poet and writer, one of the most important figures in modern Polish literature....

 set to music.

The album was funded independently and released through the 33 Jazz label in the United Kingdom, Poland, and Japan. Island Girl was warmly received by critics and music journalists, and was ranked alongside the earlier achievements of Anna Maria Jopek

Anna Maria Jopek

Anna Maria Jopek is a Polish musician and singer. She represented her country in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Ale jestem" and finished 11th out of 25 participating acts; and in 2002, she collaborated on an album with jazz guitarist Pat Metheny...

 and Aga Zaryan

Aga Zaryan

Aga Zaryan is an internationally recognized jazz vocalist of the new generation.Though young, her tone and delivery carry the hallmarks of classical jazz for a modern audience and as such is part of a new wave of Polish jazz artists recognised on the international scene...

. The group embarked on a tour across Europe in support of the album. During this time, they performed at many well-known venues in London, including Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club which has operated in London since 1959.The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was managed by musicians Ronnie Scott and Pete King. In 1965 it moved to a larger venue nearby at 47 Frith Street...

, Barbican Centre

Barbican Centre

The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...

, and the Royal National Theatre

Royal National Theatre

The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...

.

In addition to her solo work, Kwasniewska has collaborated with various artists from the UK and Poland. She was spotted singing in a cafe and invited to record an EP for a London-based electronica project. She also contributed harmony vocals to the single "Glowa do gory" by UK/Poland based rock band The Poise Rite.

The Sky is on Fire (2012)

After the successful tour, Kwasniewska went back into the studio to begin work on her next album. In May 2011, Aleksandra & The Belgian Sweets played new material from the upcoming album in Belgium and Holland, where they had the chance to perform at the legendary Music Village in Brussels to the enthusiastic response of the international audience.

Kwasniewska's second album, The Sky is on Fire, is set for a Spring 2012 release. It will be preceded by lead single "Snow in July," written by producer DeBruyckere. The song will be released to iTunes stores worldwide on 19 December 2011.

Along with The Belgian Sweets trio, the album includes support from Renato Marquez on violin and album engineer HT Roberts adding parts on bouzouki, mandolin, 12-string and 6-string acoustic guitar. The album will also include additional poetry from Poświatowska and an update of the classic tango "Ostatnia Niedziela."

Singles

• "Be Close to Me" (2008)
• "Set Little Sun, Set" (2009)
• "Sleeping Unicorn" (2010)
• "The Moon's a Harsh Mistress" (2011)
• "Snow in July" (2011)
• "Little Piano" (2012)
• "Sky is on Fire" (2012)

External links

• Official website
• Facebook
• MySpace
• YouTube channel
• Last.fm page
• [ allmusic ((( Aleksandra Kwasniewska > Overview )))]