Music gave me a dream.

Sport taught me how to fight for it.

Conducting allowed me to discover my true calling.

Angelika Ciesielska is a conductor, clarinettist and music educator based in England, whose artistic journey is defined by resilience, determination and a profound belief in music’s power to transform lives. With a background spanning professional-level basketball officiating, orchestral performance and youth orchestra leadership, she brings a distinctive combination of musical sensitivity, decisive leadership and human understanding to the podium.

Her journey began in Poland, where financial circumstances forced her to interrupt her musical education. Basketball became a lifeline, helping her rebuild her confidence and find purpose. She went on to become the first woman in Poland to referee men’s top-division basketball matches and later a FIBA referee candidate. Sport taught her to think clearly under pressure, communicate with authority and take responsibility for every decision - qualities she now considers integral to conducting.

Yet music never left her. After moving to the United Kingdom, she worked to save enough money to buy a clarinet and return to her artistic calling after 24 years away. She subsequently achieved the ATCL and LTCL Diplomas in Music Performance through Trinity College London, studying clarinet with Katherine Spencer. Her return to music became more than a rediscovery of her former life: it opened the door to a new artistic identity.

Discovering the podium

The defining moment came unexpectedly, when Angelika was asked to step in for a conductor during a rehearsal. What began with uncertainty quickly became a profound sense of belonging. In that moment, music and leadership - two forces that had shaped her life in different ways - came together. She recognised conducting not simply as another musical discipline, but as her true calling.

Angelika is developing her conducting through ongoing study with Professor Catherine Larsen-Maguire and specialist masterclasses, including work with Mark Heron. Her conducting interests encompass both symphonic repertoire and opera, with a particular fascination for the relationship between musical structure, dramatic expression and the collective energy of an ensemble.

Her professional development has also included observing the rehearsal and production process of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro with Wild Arts Touring Opera, under the musical direction of Orlando Jopling and stage direction of Danielle de Niese. In October 2026, she observed Sir Mark Elder working with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on Bizet’s L’Arlésienne, experiencing the collaboration between conductor, orchestra, choir and actors. These opportunities have deepened her understanding of the rehearsal room as a place where musical precision, imagination and communication must work together.

Alongside her conducting, Angelika continues to draw on her experience as a clarinettist, including orchestral, chamber and solo performance. She has performed with ensembles in England and Poland, including the White Cliffs Symphonic Winds, and performed at the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk at the age of fifteen.

A vision beyond the podium

In January 2024, Angelika founded the Dover Youth Orchestra, becoming the founder and conductor of Dover’s first youth orchestra. Built on the belief that every young person deserves access to music regardless of financial circumstances or previous experience, the orchestra creates opportunities for young musicians to develop their skills, confidence, discipline and sense of belonging. Angelika has led several public concerts, including two featuring professional clarinettist Katherine Spencer as soloist.

Her work with young musicians reflects the heart of her conducting philosophy: the orchestra is her instrument, but the musicians are its living voice. She believes that a conductor’s responsibility extends beyond achieving musical excellence. It is to build trust, inspire commitment and create an environment in which every musician feels valued and able to contribute to a shared artistic vision.

For Angelika, mistakes are not the opposite of progress; they are part of the process through which musicians learn, grow and find courage. She strives to combine high artistic standards with humanity, clarity and respect, believing that the strongest performances emerge when people are united by a common purpose.

Her ambition is to build a professional career in orchestral and operatic conducting, continually expanding her musical knowledge and artistic voice. Equally, she is committed to bringing the benefits of music-making to the next generation, particularly to young people whose opportunities may otherwise be limited.