Jadwiga Rappé is one of greatest Polish singers. She is a graduate of Warsaw University (Slavic Philology) and of the Academy of Music in Wroclaw, where she studied singing under Zofia Brégy and Jerzy Artysz. In 1980 she won first prize at the International Bach Competition in Leipzig, followed the next year by the Gold Medal at the International Festival of Young Soloists in Bordeaux. She specialises in oratorios and cantatas, with a repertoire that ranges from the baroque to the contemporary. She has collaborated with conductors of the highest international distinction, appearing in major concert halls throughout the world, and in leading festivals. Her many recordings include the principal contralto solo rôles in music from Bach to Mahler, Honegger, Szymanowski and Penderecki.

Jadwiga Rappé's repertoire also includes rôles in operas by Handel, Tschaikovsky, Gluck, Verdi, Ponchielli, and Richard Strauss. She received great acclaim for her Erda in Wagner's Ring at performances in the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Covent Garden, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Festival d‘Orange, the Vienna State Opera, Oper Frankfurt, and the Grand Théâtre de Genève. She has served as a member of the jury of the International Vocal Competition in 's-Hertogenbosch.