Stanisław Sojka

Biography

Stanisław Joachim Sojka (26 April 1959 – 21 August 2025), also known as Stanisław Soyka, was a Polish jazz and pop singer, pianist and composer.

Beginnings and breakthrough

Sojka began performing as a boy soprano in Gliwice Cathedral Choir, when he was seven years old. At the same time he was also a second-grade violin student at the State Musical School in Gliwice. His musical education was continued at the Music High School in Katowice and completed with a master's degree in arrangement and composing from the Akademia Muzyczna im. K. Szymanowskiego w Katowicach.
Soyka made his professional debut on stage in November 1978, when he performed at the National Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw in the "Jazz at the Philharmonic" series. He presented a recital, inspired by classic jazz, soul and R&B, including songs by Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles and George Gershwin, but also traditional Polish Christmas carols and folklore tunes. The concert was recorded and released in 1979 as Soyka's debut album entitled Don't You Cry. In that year Stanisław Soyka won the top prize at Lubelskie Spotkania Jazzowe (Lublin Jazz Conference).
Over the next six years, he released three more jazz albums and one of religious music. He was named the best Polish jazz vocalist by readers of the magazine Jazz Forum, from 1983 to 1988. In the same period Soyka also recorded some pop songs for Polish Radio, which were later collected on the album Radioaktywny×Radioaktywny1988 · Release · SoundtrackSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Jak dzieci3:022Monolog pajaca3:113Niebo oczekiwanie nasze8:464Zaczepka platoniczna3:105Plotki/Ja nie wierzę w koniec1:356Absolutnie nic3:407Popołudniowe miasto2:008Niech drgnie Twoje oko3:279Nocny papieros3:2510Niech całują Cię moje oczy5:2011Dobranoc3:03, released in 1989.

Pop career

In 1986, Soyka signed a two-year record deal with RCA in Germany. There he recorded his first pop and first international album, entitled simply Stanisław Sojka. Among the producers was Harold Faltermeyer. Before the album he also produced Soyka's single "Spirit of the West", recorded for an ad campaign for West cigarettes. The album was a commercial flop, but it was a success in his native Poland. In 1988, Soyka returned to Poland and formed a duet with guitarist Janusz Iwański "Janina" from the Polish jazz group Tie Break. They recorded and performed together until 1994.
In 1991, Soyka recorded his most famous and best-selling album, Acoustic×AcousticJune 1990 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1One Hundered Years4:452I Never Felt This Before4:043Take It Home3:234Mr Cool2:365No Place for Poetry3:336Cud Niepamięci3:447Play It Again3:538Railway Hotel3:129All About You4:3810Tak jak w kinie4:4411Hard to Part4:12, co-produced by Dieter Meier from Yello. It brought hits like Cud niepamięci and Play It Again. In 1992 he was named the Best Polish Star of 1991 by the readers of "Popcorn" magazine for teenagers. His next album Neopositive from 1992 repeated the commercial success of Acoustic, thanks to the huge hit Tolerancja, which became the biggest of his career. In that year he also won the Bursztynowy Słowik – Grand Prix of Sopot International Song Festival. Another album, Radical Graża from 1994, was less successful, as were all his subsequent albums.

New directions

In 1995, Soyka decided to compose music for poetry and chose William Shakespeare's sonnets, translated into Polish. The album Sonety Shakespeare×Sonety Shakespeare1998 · Release · SoundtrackSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Sonet CLIII2:322Sonet CXVI2:563Sonet CXXXV2:344Sonet LXVI2:585Sonet XXXIII3:436Sonet LXXVII2:147Sonet XLVI2:348Sonet XLIV4:099Sonet CXV2:5610Sonet LVI3:5511Sonet LXXV3:3212Sonet CII2:4813Post scriptum ad libitum4:27 was released in 1995 and his English version Soyka Sings Shakespeare's Sonnets four years later. Soyka gave the Polish version as a gift to Queen Elizabeth II, during her 1996 visit to Poland. In 2003, he composed music for the poem "Roman Triptych" written by Pope John Paul II and recorded the album Tryptyk rzymski. He presented these songs live in front of the Pope in the Vatican.
In 2001, Soyka recorded the last religious album of his career, Polskie pieśni wielkopostne with forgotten Polish Lenten songs. But Soyka did not neglect pop music and between those albums released Nr 17 in 1998, Soykanova in 2002 and album with covers Soyka Sings Love Songs in 2004. In 2007, he formed his new band Soyka Sextet Plus. In 2008 Soyka recorded as a guest artist two songs with rapper Gorzki, including one with Bizarre from D12 and one reggae song with composer and producer Krakowski. Soyka's first studio album in five years, Studio Wąchock, was released in October 2009.
Soyka won two Fryderyk Awards: as "Best Male Vocalist" of 1994 (on the first ceremony) and for the "Best Poetic Music Album" of 2003.

Death

Sojka died on 21 August 2025, at the age of 66.
He was found in his hotel room after failing to appear at the Sopot Festival

State decoration

Krzyż Kawalerski Orderu Odrodzenia Polski, 2009 by Lech Kaczyński (Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta)