She studied opera vocal performance at the Bratislava Conservatory and at the Academy of Performing Arts under the guidance of Prof. V. Stracenska. She participated in interpretation courses in Siena, Italy, with C. Bergonzi during her studies. She has been awarded a scholarship by the Friends of the Vienna State Opera and is a finalist in the international singing competition L. Pavarotti. In 1992, she began her international artistic career, and in the same year, she started her solo performance at the Slovak National Theatre, which continues to this day. She collaborated with Prof. J. Loibl in Munich in perfecting her performance technique. She has performed alongside world-renowned tenors José Carerras and Piotr Beczał. In 2009, she defended her doctorate at the Academy of Performing Arts, and since 2018, she has been teaching vocal performance. As a vocal coach, she organises workshops focused on vocal-technical interpretation of singing. In recent seasons, we have had the opportunity to hear Jolana Fogašová on the boards of the Slovak National Theatre as Tosca, Lutomira, Abigail, Elisabetta di Valois, Lady Macbeth, Santuzza, Amneris, The Foreign Priestess, Salome, Katrena, Elsa von Brabant, Lucrezia Contarini, Manon Lescaut, The Princess and others. Since 2024, she has been the head of the Opera Studio of the Slovak National Theatre.

 

In her opera and concert performances, she has collaborated with conductors such as Z. Mehta, F. Luisi, P. Boulez, L. Hager, J. Latham-Konig, J. Svetlanov, N. Bareza, Zhang Guoyong, M. Letonja, E. Villaume, O. Kazushi, E. de Waart, J. Mercier, J. Kovács, J. Bělohlávek, M. Venzago, S. A. Reck, J. Fiore, I. Fischer, O. Lenárd, R. Štúr, F. Haider, S. Lano, A. Eschwé, L. Langrée, J. Valčuha, R. Jindra, J. Kyzlink, G. Korsten, H. Wolf, B. Gregor and others.

 

She has collaborated with directors such as H. De Ana, L. Ronconi, P. L. Pizzi, G. De Bosio, W. Friedkin, F. Zambello, N. Joel, S. Medcalf, P. Curran, M. Schweigkofler, H. J. Ruckhäberle, K. Link and others, and on the domestic scene with such names as M. Chudovský, B. Kriška, M. Fischer, R. Polák, J. Bednárik, M. Huba, V. Věžník, J. Heřman, J. Nekvasil, T. Pilař, D. Benes, Z. Fischer and others.

 

Jolana Fogašová's opera repertoire focuses on "soprano spinto d´agilita" type characters: Tosca, Lady Macbeth, Eglantine (Euryanta), Manon Lescaut, Gioconda, Lucrezia Contarini (Due Foscari), Abigail (Nabucco), Salome, Elisabetta di Valois (Don Carlo), Gioconda, La Wally, Joan of Arc (Our Lady of Orleans), Luthumira (St. Peter), Katrena (The Crucible), Elsa von Brabant (Lohengrin), Elisabetta (Maria Stuarda), Judith (Prince Bluebeard's Castle), Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana), Venus (Tannhauser), Amneris (Aida), Marina Mnishek (Boris Godunov), Lucrezia Borgia (Lucrezia Borgia), The Foreign Priestess and Ježibaba (Rusalka), Milada (Dalibor), Vlasta (Šárka), Fox (The Cunning Little Vixen), and others.

 

She has collaborated with many major orchestras such as the Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Münchner Philharmoniker, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Suisse Romande, Orchestra Sinfonica dell' Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestre Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, MDR Sinfonieorchester, and the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Matáv Hungarian Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Orchestre National Bordeaux - Aquitaine, Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hessische Rundfunk Orchestra, Nord Nederlands Orchestra, Orchestre National dIle de France, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Orchestra del Teatro Verdi Trieste, Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Picardie and others.

 

She has been a guest artist in Argentina (Buenos Aires), Belgium (Brussels, Bruges), Czech Republic (Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Český Krumlov), China (Beijing, Xi'an), Denmark (Copenhagen), France (Paris, Lille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Montpellier), Greece (Athens), Netherlands (Amsterdam, The Hague, Leeuwarden, Drachten, Groningen), Croatia (Split), Japan (Tokyo), Vilnius (Lithuania), Riga (Latvia), Hungary (Budapest, Miskolc, Sopron), Germany (Berlin, Düsseldorf, Munich, Dresden, Cologne, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Bamberg, Halle, Regensburg, Furth), Portugal (Lisbon), Austria (Vienna, Bregenz, Salzburg, Linz, Graz, Krems, Lilienfeldt), Russia (Moscow), Spain (Cuenca), Switzerland (Bern, Geneva, Zurich, Lousanne, Basel), Italy (Rome, Milan, Naples, Bologna, Firenze, Trieste, Cagliari, Catania, Brescia).