On March 23, 2026, tenor Janusz Ratajczak died at the age of 64 after a car accident.

Born in 1962 in Poland, Ratajczak graduated from the Mechanical Technical School in Szczecinek and sang in the De Profundis Choir, where he met his wife.

After graduating from high school, Ratajczak went on to study at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz and graduated in 1989 with a Master of Arts degree. He studied classical vocal performance with his wife, mezzo-soprano Małgorzata Ratajczak, with whom he went on to perform with on stage.

Ratajczak won the National Stanisław Moniuszko Competition and went on to make his debut in Stanisław Moniuszko’s opera “Flis,” at the Bydgoszcz Opera House. From there he performed at Polish theaters, including the Musical Theatre in Gliwice, the Grand Theatre in Warsaw, the Krakow Opera, the Wrocław Opera, the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk, the Castle Opera in Szczecin, the Musical Theatre in Poznań, the Grand Theatre in Poznań, and the Silesian Opera in Bytom.

Ratajczak’s career also brought him to Denmark, the Benelux, Austria, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Malta.

He went on to perform more than 50 roles including Stefan in “The Haunted Manor” and Jontek in “Halka” by Moniuszko, Lensky in the opera “Eugene Onegin,” Alfred in “La Traviata” and Manrico in “Il trovatore,” Hoffmann in “The Tales of Hoffmann,” Don José in “Carmen,” Faust in “Mefistofele,” and Cavaradossi in “Tosca,” among many others.

The tenor was also a renown teacher and a member of the Polish Association of Singing Pedagogues.