Gdańsk Music Festival 2026
ARTISTS
Katarzyna Zalewska
Łukasz Borowicz
Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Poznań Philharmonic, Principal Guest Conductor of the Cracow Philharmonic. One of the most versatile conductors of his generation, Łukasz Borowicz regularly leads the major European orchestras in the core Germanic repertoire as well as important Central and Eastern-European works. He conducts opera and has received numerous prizes for his over 140 recordings. From 2007 to 2015 he was Chief Conductor of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Warsaw, and from 2006 to 2021 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Poznań Philharmonic.
In the season 25/26 Borowicz debuts with Orquestra de Valencia, Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock, records with Bochumer Symphoniker, debuts at the Baltic Opera Festival and returns for concert and recordings to Basque National Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, Pardubice Chamber Orchestra, National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Katowice), Polish Baltic Philharmonic, Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic, Polish Royal Opera (Warsaw), Pomerania Philharmonic, Warmia-Masuria Philharmonic, Teatr Wielki – National Opera of Poland.
In the recent seasons Borowicz made his debuts with Israel Philharmonic, Orquestra Titular del Teatro Real (Madrid), debuted at Musikfest Berlin (with Akademie für Alte Musik, RIAS Kammerchor), conducted new production of Verdi’s Giovanna d’Arco at Ópera de Tenerife and returned to Staatskapelle Halle, Orchestre National de Lille, L’Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie, Prague Philharmonia PKF among others.
Łukasz Borowicz has appeared as guest conductor and recorded with London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Paris Opera (Les Huguenots), Akademie für Alte Musik, RIAS Kammerchor, WDR Sinfonieorchester, SWR Sinfonieorchester, Bamberger Symphoniker. Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Hamburger Symphoniker, MDR Sinfonieorchester, Luzerner Symfonieorchester, Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group and a number of other orchestras and ensembles, including all the major Polish symphonies. He has led concerts at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and Kissinger Sommer Festival, and has an ongoing relationship with the Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw, which has seen over twenty rarely played operas performed to date.
Borowicz made his operatic debut at Polish National Opera with Don Giovanni, which has been followed by over 200 performances at the house including several premieres. Recent opera premieres include a new production of Moniuszko’s Halka at the Theater an der Wien and the Teatr Wielki – National Opera of Poland, Janacek’s Journal d’un disparu and de Falla’s El amor brujo at the Opéra national du Rhin as well as world-premiere of Dead End by Krzysztof Meyer at Teatr Wielki – National Opera of Poland. Borowicz’s recordings have been awarded four Diapason d’Or prizes. Symphonic recordings include the complete Violin Concertos by Grażyna Bacewicz (Chandos), the Complete Symphonic Works by Grażyna Bacewicz (cpo), the Complete Symphonic Works by Andrzej Panufnik (cpo). The final installment of the Panufnik cycle was selected as an Editor’s Choice by Gramophone magazine, and Borowicz received the ICMA Special Achievement Award in 2015 for his pioneering work on the cycle. In 2018 he received another ICMA award for his recording of Quo Vadis by Feliks Nowowiejski (cpo). In 2025 he received ICMA award as well as Recording of the Year award for the album Urlicht recorded with Poznań Philharmonic and Samuel Hasselhorn (harmonia mundi). His collaboration with Piotr Beczała on Deutsche Grammophon’s recording Heart’s delight – Songs of Richard Tauber was met with wide critical and public praise. Recent DVD of Moniuszko’s Halka (Unitel) was awarded Critic’s Choice of the Opera News (July 2022). Ongoing recording projects include release of Hugo Alfven’s Complete Symphonies with the DSO Berlin.
Born in Warsaw in 1977, Łukasz Borowicz graduated from the Frederic Chopin Music Academy, where he studied under Bogusław Madey. He has received the Polityka Passport Award (2008), Coryphée of Polish Music Award (2011), Norwid Award (2013) and Tansman Prize honouring an outstanding musical personality (2014) as well as Honorary Award of Polish Composers Union (2021).
Łukasz Borowicz is a Professor of the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Cracow.
Katarzyna Budnik
The artist graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw after studies in the violin class of Mirosław Ławrynowicz, Andrzej Gębski and Janusz Wawrowski as well as the viola class of Piotr Reichert. She is now on the faculty of the University of Music in Warsaw as a teaching assistant in Piotr Reichert’s viola class. In recognition of her outstanding achievements, she received scholarships from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as well as the 8th „Young Poland“ Scholarship Programme (2011).
She has participated with success in numerous competitions, such as: the 47th International “Beethoven’s Hradec” Music Competition (The Czech Republic, 2008, 1st prize), the 15th International Johannes Brahms Competition in Pörtschach (Austria, 2008, 1st prize), the 8th National Jan Rakowski Viola Competition (Poznań, 2008, 1st prize), International Max Rostal Competition in Berlin (2009, 2nd prize), International Max Reger Chamber Music Competition in Sondershausen (2009, 2nd prize and the special prize for the best performance of Max Reger’s Suite for solo viola) as well as the 4th Michał Spisak International Competition in Dąbrowa Górnicza (2010, 2nd prize and the special prize for the best performance of a compulsory piece).
As a soloist and chamber musician she has given concerts in Poland and other European countries (e.g. in the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, France and Russia). In 2010 she participated in the “Chamber Music Connects the World” project, organized by the Kronberg Academy, where she performed along with such distinguished musicians as Gidon Kremer, Tatiana Grindenko, at many prestigious festivals, including the Music Festival in Łańcut, the International Chamber Music Festival „Music on the Heights“ in Zakopane and the Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus (she was specially invited to the latter event by Gidon Kremer).
Katarzyna Zalewska
Giuliano Carmignola
Born in Treviso, he studied with his father, then with Luigi Ferro and afterwards with Nathan Milstein and Franco Gulli at the Accademia Chigiana and Henryk Szeryng at the Geneva Conservatory.
He began his career as a soloist under the direction of conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Eliahu Inbal, Peter Maag and Giuseppe Sinopoli, performing in all the most prestigious concert halls of the world. He collaborates with conductors such as Umberto Benedetti Michelangeli, Daniele Gatti, Andrea Marcon, Christoph Hogwood, Trevor Pinnok, Franz Brüggen, Ivor Bolton, Richard Egarr, Giovanni Antonini, Ottavio Dantone…
Significant was his collaboration with the Virtuosi of Rome during the ‘70s and orchestras such as: Orchestra da camera di Mantova, Sonatori della gioiosa Marca, Venice Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra Mozart, Orchestre des Champs Elysées, Kammerorchester Basel, Il Giardino Armonico, Zürich Chamber Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music, Concerto Köln, Accademia Bizantina…
His recording has led him to collaborate with labels such as Erato, Divox Antiqua, Sony and Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, with which he currently has an exclusive contract. His recording releases have won many important awards.
His last two recordings: “Bach Violin Concertos” with Concerto Köln (DG - 2015) and “A. Vivaldi: Concertos for two violins” with Amandine Beyer and Ensemble Gli Incogniti (Harmonia Mundi – 2016) have both been rewarded by Diapason d’Or.
He has taught courses at Siena’s Accademia Musicale Chigiana and teaches at the Lucerne’s Hochschule.
He was awarded the title of "Academician of the Royal Philharmonic Academy of Bologna" and "Academician of Santa Cecilia."
Marlena Solska
Thomas Cornelius
THOMAS CORNELIUS
As a composer, organist, and conductor, Thomas Cornelius cultivates the now almost
vanished tradition of the composer-performer. He is associated both with the
Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, with
whom he appears as an organist. In the Grand Hall of the Elbphilharmonie he
regularly presents his latest compositions on the organ—most recently in November
2024 during the concert Bruckner Night Reflection 1 & 2, performed in dialogue with
the NDR Vokalensemble (Bruckner motets) and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester
(Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7).
Alongside appearances in more than 250 concerts in a wide variety of ensembles, he
is also responsible for shaping the sound of the Elbphilharmonie’s organ. At the
institution he is likewise involved in educational programmes, introducing audiences
to the art of organ music and the craft of organ building.
Performances under the baton of such distinguished conductors as Marin Alsop,
Herbert Blomstedt, Alan Gilbert, Kent Nagano, and Esa-Pekka Salonen have taken
him to renowned concert halls across Europe, the Americas, and Asia.
As a composer, Cornelius has created a substantial body of work ranging from solo
pieces to choral-symphonic compositions. His output also includes music for
keyboard instruments, chamber music, and film scores (more than 40 international
productions), all commissioned by major cultural institutions. In 2020, the NDR
Vokalensemble premiered his commissioned work Atem Geist Leben.
For his interpretations and compositions, Thomas Cornelius has received numerous
international awards. Most recently, in September 2024, he was honoured with the
Polish music award “Muzyczne Orły” for his chamber work Plurality Diversity Society,
premiered at the NOSPR Concert Hall in Katowice. He also served as First Guest
Conductor of the Polish choir and orchestra of the Śląsk Song and Dance Ensemble.
Dang Thai Son
A Vietnamese-Canadian pianist, one of the foremost musicians of our times. The first Asian to win the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (1980). Born in Hanoi, he began learning piano at the age of five with his mother, before continuing his musical education with Vladimir Natanson and Dmitri Bashkirov at the Moscow State Piotr Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He has performed in more than 40 countries, appearing with the most outstanding orchestras, including the Philharmonia Orchestra, philharmonic orchestras of St Petersburg, Prague and Warsaw, Orchestre de Paris, Berlin Staatskapelle, Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal and NHK Symphony. He is a professor of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, and many of his students have won prizes in the world’s biggest music competitions. He has also sat on the jury of the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, the competitions in Hamamatsu, Cleveland and Sydney, the Clara Haskil (Switzerland), Artur Rubinstein (Israel) and Ferruccio Busoni (Italy). In 2003 the Yamaha Music Media Corporation published a biography entitled A Pianist Loved by Chopin: The Dang Thai Son Story. He is a laureate of the Prix Opus, in Quebec, Canada, in the Concert of the Year category (2016). He has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Melodya, Victor JVC and the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, which has released several of his discs, including Chopin’s nocturnes (on historical and modern piano) and concertos (with the Orchestra of the 18th Century and Frans Bruggen, Platinum Disc), and also a Paderewski disc featuring a selection of solo works and the Piano Concerto in A minor, recorded at the ‘Chopin and his Europe’ festival in 2015 (Philharmonia Orchestra, cond. Vladimir Ashkenazy). That recording won ResMusica magazine’s La clef du mois award. In 2010 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, and in 2018 the ‘Gloria Artis’ Gold Medal for services to Polish culture.
Pavel Antonov
Lucas Debargue
Lukas Debargue
“The incredible gift, artistic vision and creative freedom” of Lucas Debargue were revealed by his performances at the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow in 2015 and distinguished with the coveted Prize of the Moscow Music Critics Association.
Today, Lucas is invited to play solo and with leading orchestras in the most prestigious venues of the world including Berlin Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, Théâtre des Champs Elysées and Philharmonie de Paris, London’s Wigmore Hall and Royal Festival Hall, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Cologne Philharmonie, Suntory Hall Tokyo, the concert halls of Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Seoul and Carnegie Hall in New York. He also appeared several times at the summer festivals of La Roque d’Anthéron and Verbier.
Lucas Debargue has already collaborated with conductors such as Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Jurowski, Lorenzo Viotti, Andrey Boreyko, Elim Chan, Tugan Sokhiev, Ludovic Morlot, Bertrand de Billy and Tarmo Peltokoski, as well as orchestras like London Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Stockholm Radio Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra Tokyo. His chamber music partners include Alexandre Kantorow, Gidon Kremer, Janine Jansen, Marc Bouchkov, Camille Thomas, Kian Soltani, and Martin Fröst. Born in 1990, Lucas forged a highly unconventional path to success. Having discovered classical music at the age of 10, the future musician began to feed his passion and curiosity with diverse artistic and intellectual experiences, including advanced literature and philosophy studies. The encounter with the celebrated piano teacher Rena Shereshevskaya proved a turning point: her vision and guidance inspired Lucas to make a life-long professional commitment to music. A performer of fierce integrity and dazzling communicative power, Lucas Debargue draws inspiration for his playing from literature, painting, cinema, jazz, and develops a very personal interpretation of a carefully selected repertoire. Though the core piano repertoire is central to his career, he is keen to present works by lesser-known composers like Karol Szymanowski, Nikolai Medtner, or Miłosz Magin. Lucas devotes much of his time to composition and has already created over twenty works for piano solo and chamber ensembles. These include Orpheo di camera concertino for piano, drums and string orchestra, premiered by Kremerata Baltica, and a Piano Trio which was premiered under the auspices of the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. As a permanent guest Artist of Kremerata Baltica, Lucas has been commissioned to write a chamber opera.
Lucas Debargue is an exclusive artist of Sony Classical. He has released so far five albums with the music of Scarlatti, Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Ravel, Medtner and Szymanowski. His monumental four-Cd’s box tribute to Scarlatti has been praised by The New York Times and selected as “the ten classical albums to usher in the next decade”. A CD entirely dedicated to the Polish composer Miłosz Magin is a true discovery of a fascinating, yet unknown composer recorded with Kremerata Baltica and Gidon Kremer.
In March 2024, Sony Classical released his last recording containing in a box of 4 CDs the complete piano works of Gabriel Fauré. This album achieved huge success, both in terms of sales and critical reception, with highly positive international press coverage and several distinctions (5 DIAPASONS from Diapason Magazine, Choc 2024 from Classica Magazine, Prix Radio Classique 2024, finalist at the ICMA Awards 2025 in the "Solo Instrument" category).In September 2025, Lucas Debargue has recorded live with the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Elim Chan Gershwin Piano Concerto in F. This recording will form the centrepiece of his next recording for SONY Classical, entirely dedicated to the music of Gershwin. The double CD will, for the first time, present Lucas Debargue in the role of composer, and will display several of his transcriptions of Gershwin’s most iconic themes. The complete album is scheduled for release in spring 2026.
Major engagements for Lucas Debargue in the 2025-26 season include returns to the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Wigmore Hall in London, Warsaw Philharmonic. He will also appear with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra at the Tonhalle Zurich and in Dresden, with Enescu Philharmonic in Bucharest and perform with Kremerata Baltica at the Kronberg Academy and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. Other engagements include Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, Milan Conservatory, Bordeaux, Lyon, Istanbul, Lausanne and a tour in Australia with recitals in the major towns.
Lucas’s breakthrough at the Tchaikovsky Competition is the subject of the documentary To Music. Directed by Martin Mirabel and produced by Bel Air Media, it was shown at the International Film Festival in Biarritz.
Mykola Diadiura
Mykola Diadiura, Ukrainian conductor born in Kyiv.
Mykola Diadiura is Chief conductor of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine (since 1996), Music Director of the National Opera of Ukraine (since 2011) and Chief conductor of the Pomeranian Philharmonic Orchestra in Poland (since 2022).
One year after his graduation from the Kyiv National Conservatory, he became Laureate of the “Min-On” International Conductors Competition and won the Special Prize of the Japan Conductors Association in Tokyo.
In 1988 in Budapest he was awarded by the International Conductors Competition “J. Ferencsik” and was personally invited by M° Seiji Ozawa to Tanglwood Art Center in the USA, where he had a chance to study also with M° Leonard Bernstein and M° André Previn.
Mykola Diadiura first appointment as chief conductor was with Omsk Philharmonic Orchestra in Russia in 1986. Chief Conductor of the Seoul Symphony Orchestra in South Korea (1989 – 1996) and Szczecin Philharmonic in Poland (2010-2013), he is invited as guest conductor all over Europe and Asia.
Mykola Diadiura is Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France), Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia and the People’s Artist of Ukraine.
Maciej Mulawa
Jakub Jakowicz
Jakub Jakowicz
Jakub Jakowicz learned to play the violin from his father, Krzysztof Jakowicz, also as a student at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw. He is also the last student of one of the founders of the Polish violin school, Professor Tadeusz Wroński. He gave his first public concert at the age of eleven. In 1998, at the invitation of Krzysztof Penderecki, he performed at the composer’s festival in Kraków. In 2001, he debuted with the Munich Philharmonic under the direction of Pinchas Steinberg. Since then, he has performed as a soloist with many renowned orchestras, including the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Czech Philharmonic in Prague, Orchestra di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Dresden Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva, Orquesta Nacional in Madrid, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo and the Concerto Köln. He has collaborated with such conductors as Pinchas Steinberg, Jerzy Semkow, Antoni Wit, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Jacek Kaspszyk, Kazimierz Kord, Jan Krenz, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Eiji Oue, Marek Pijarowski, Krzysztof Penderecki, Agnieszka Duczmal, Kirill Karabits, Michail Jurowski, Marc Minkowski and Stefan Solyom. For many years, Jakub Jakowicz has been performing in the violin duo with his father Krzysztof. Since 2000, he has collaborated with the pianist Bartosz Bednarczyk, with whom he has recorded such albums as Subito (Polish Radio), Beethoven Violin Sonatas (Subito Records), recordings of Witold Lutosławski’s Partita (CD Accord) and Franz Schubert’s chamber music (Polish Radio). He has also performed with a number of eminent musicians, including Heinz Holliger, Paul Gulda, Jan Krzysztof Broja, Michel Lethiec, Anna Maria Staśkiewicz, Ruth Killius, Katarzyna Budnik-Gałązka, Ryszard Groblewski, Avri Levitan, Ursula Smith, Daniel Müller-Schott, Andrzej Bauer, Rafał Kwiatkowski, Marcin Zdunik, Karol Marianowski and Zvi Plesser. He is also associated with two string quartets: in 2008– 2014, he was the primarius of the Lutosławski Quartet, with whom he recorded a series of string quartets by Grażyna Bacewicz, and since 2006 he has been a member of the Zehetmair Quartet, an ensemble created by the Austrian violinist and conductor Thomas Zehetmair. The album of the ensemble (ECM) presenting works by Béla Bartók and Paul Hindemith received the Diapason d’Or in 2007. In 2014, the ensemble received the prestigious Paul Hindemith Prize of the City of Hanau. Jakub Jakowicz won first prizes at violin competitions in Lublin (1993), Wattrelos in France (1995) and Takasaki in Japan (1999). In 2001, he was one of the three winners of the International Tribune of Young Performers in Bratislava, organised under the auspices of the European Radio Union and the UNESCO International Music Council. In 2002, he was awarded the Polish-Japanese Foundation prize for the most promising young violinist. In 2007, he received the Orpheus Award at the Warsaw Autumn Festival, and in 2018, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the popularisation of Witold Lutosławski’s music, he was awarded the 100th Anniversary Medal commemorating the composer’s birth by the Witold Lutosławski Society. Jakub Jakowicz holds a doctoral degree in music and is a professor of violin at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. He plays a Gand Frères violin (Paris, 1859), courtesy of the Fondation Jerzy Semkow.
Robert Kwiatkowski
Robert Kwiatkowski
A versatile artist – soloist, chamber musician, orchestra leader, and educator. He graduated in
violin (class of Krystyna Jurecka) and chamber music (class of Anna Prabucka-Firlej) from the
Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk. He developed his abilities with such emi-
nent artists as Henry Meyer, Joseph Kalichstein, Sebastian Hamann, Marine Iashvili, Jadwiga
Kaliszewska, Stefan Kamasa, as well as members of the LaSalle and Miró string quartets.
As a soloist, he has performed with, among others, the Beethoven Academy Orchestra, the
Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Chile, the Polish Sinfonia
Iuventus Orchestra, Sigyn Sinfonietta, Radom Chamber Orchestra, and Hanseatica Chamber
Orchestra, as well as the philharmonic orchestras from Gdańsk, Częstochowa, and Kalisz.
He is currently the concertmaster of the Polish Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra in Gdańsk.
As guest leader, he frequently appears with renowned orchestras in Poland and worldwide,
for instance with the Beethoven Academy Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra,
and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia.
As a chamber musician, he has played in Poland and abroad with the most eminent repre-
sentatives of the Polish music scene. Already as a student, he scored successes in nationwide
and international chamber music competitions as the first violinist in Dali Piano Quartet.
He has recorded more than a dozen albums, including such recent titles as Mozart – Pearls
from Paris (Anagram), Double Concertos – Mendelssohn, Chausson (Acte Préalable), and Simon
Laks – In Between (CD Accord). May 2023 saw his latest album My Story, which he recorded
with the pianist Dominika Glapiak (CD Accord). Maxim Vengerov wrote about this recording:
‘The velvety sound of Mr Kwiatkowski's violin enchants with its rich palette of colours and lets
even the most discerning listener have a pleasant experience.’
Kwiatkowski was the founder (in 2003), leader and director of Hanseatica Chamber Orchestra,
which gave concerts for ten years, winning numerous accolades such as the Pomeranian
Artistic Award, the Pomeranian Gryphon, the Medal of the President of Gdańsk, and the Award
of the Marshal of the Pomorskie Province.
Robert Kwiatkowski obtained his postdoctoral (doctor habilitatus) degree in musical arts
in 2016. Three years later, he took up the post of professor at his alma mater in Gdańsk, where
he has long taught classes of violin and chamber music performance. His recent distinctions
include the Decoration of Honour ‘Meritorious for Polish Culture’ (2017) and the Pomeranian
Gryphon (2021) for the publication of his original cadenzas for violin concertos by Joseph
Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. In 2023, the artist was
honoured by the President of the Republic of Poland with the Bronze Cross of Merit.
Magdalena Kulig
Magdalena Kulig is a Polish mezzo-soprano of established international standing, widely
recognised for her versatility across repertoire, distinctive artistic presence, and strong
engagement with the music of the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries,
including numerous world premieres of works by contemporary composers. Her artistic
focus encompasses opera, oratorio and cantata repertoire, as well as art song.
She studied vocal performance at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław and
holds a degree in History from the University of Wrocław. This interdisciplinary
background informs her interpretative approach, characterised by strong contextual
awareness and intellectual depth. Since 2015, she has worked under the regular vocal
guidance of Professor Ingrid Kremling, further developing her vocal and artistic profile.
Magdalena Kulig has appeared in major concert halls across Europe, including the
Elbphilharmonie and Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the National Forum of Music in Wrocław,
the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR) Concert Hall in Katowice, and
the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of Polish Radio in Warsaw, as well as leading
philharmonic halls throughout Poland.
Her artistic activity also includes appearances at prominent international festivals such
as Wratislavia Cantans, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Oper im Berg Festival
Salzburg, Opern- und Konzerttage Ruhpolding, the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg –
International Festival for the Promotion of Young Opera Singers, Musica Sacromontana,
and Muzyka na Szczytach.
She has collaborated with distinguished artists and pedagogues on the international
music scene, including Cheryl Studer, Gloria Banditelli, Della Jones, Teresa Żylis-Gara,
Christian Elsner and Claudia Eder.
Magdalena Kulig is a recipient of prestigious scholarships from the German Ministry of
Culture, the Richard Strauss Institute, and the Dartington International Summer School
in the United Kingdom. In 2012, she received the Wrocław Music Award for her
album Elegies.
In 2024, the album Campo di Fiori was honoured with Silver Medals at the prestigious
Global Music Awards (USA). The recording received awards in two
categories: Album and Female Vocalist (Voice), the latter recognising Magdalena Kulig’s
vocal performance.
Her repertoire includes a wide range of operatic and operetta roles, an extensive
selection of oratorio and cantata works, and a broad art-song repertoire. Magdalena
Kulig’s performances are noted for their musical depth, refined stylistic sensibility and
mature, distinctive vocal timbre, qualities that have led to regular invitations to
participate in major concert and festival projects in Poland and abroad.
Piotr Lempa
The Polish bass Piotr Lempa graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London with distinction, and from the Cardiff International Academy of Voice in Wales where he studied with Dennis O’Neill. Earlier, after gaining a Management and Marketing degree, he studied at the Vocal and Acting Faculty at the Music Academy in Gdansk, subsequently graduating with distinction. He began his singing career as a soloist in the Technical University of Czestochowa Choir Collegium Cantorum and with this group he gave concerts in the USA, China and numerous countries in Europe.
Already early in his career Piotr won several awards. His successes included the Governor of Province Pomorskie Theatre Prize for the best role (Uberto in La Serva Padrona for Baltic Opera), the Hamburg State Opera Director Special Prize in the XI Ada Sari Vocal Competition in Nowy Sacz, prizes in the Mozart competition in London, and the Nicolai Ghiaurov Scholarship given by Mirella Freni to a promising young bass.
While a student in Gdansk he appeared with the Baltic Opera House in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and has since appeared there in many productions including works by Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini.
Piotr made his professional opera debut in 2009 singing Oroveso in Bellini's Norma for the English Touring Opera. Since then, in a rapidly developing career, he has appeared frequently in England, Wales, Germany and Poland. His roles have included Colline, Alcindoro, and Benoit (La Bohème), Sarastro, Sprecher and Zweiter Geharnischter (Die Zauberflöte), Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra), Truffaldino (Ariadne auf Naxos), Kuligin (Katya Kabanova), Dziemba (Halka), Masetto, Leporello, Il Commendatore (Don Giovanni), Sparafucile (Rigoletto), Bartolo (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Marchese and Dott. Grenville (La Traviata).
Concert work has featured in a major way in Piotr’s career, in his native Poland as well as in the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France and the USA, (where in 2001 he sang in concerts in remembrance of the World Trade Center victims in New York and Pennsylvania).
Grzegorz Mehring
Jan Łukaszewski
Jan Łukaszewski has come to be accepted as one of Europe’s most accomplished choral music specialists.
He is conductor and director of Polski Chór Kameralny. Much in demand as a guest conductor, he e.g. regularly worked with the Polish Radio Choir and works with the Philharmonic Choir Cracow and the Philharmonic Choir Wroclaw as well as guest conducting abroad. As an orchestral conductor he enjoys cooperating with such ensembles as, for examle, the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Sopot, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, The Academy of Ancient Music, or Venice Baroque Orchestra.
His main artistic interests lie in the fields of romantic and of contemporary music, and, especially in connection with Polski Chór Kameralny he has gained a reputation of being able to make possible the impossible and prepare musically valid interpretations of even the most complex of works in a very short time, indeed. Hence the number of premier performances directed by him is vast.
He regularly receives invitations worldwide to hold master classes and seminars for choral conductors (in Japan, for example or as a lecturer at the 'World Symposium on Choral Music').
Jan Łukaszewski holds the title of Professor of Musical Arts. Taking an educational interest in amateur singing, he frequently works in the juries of internationally renowned choral contests, among others in Japan [Takarazuka, Karuizawa], Wales [Llangollen], Lithuania, Italy, Switzerland, and of composers’ competitions in Poland, England [Cambridge], and in France [Rouen].
While advertising abroad the musical heritage of his nation and of his home town of Gdansk (e.g. the choral works of Andrzej Hakenberger), in Poland, Jan Łukaszewski is regarded as one of the few that propagate the music of such composers as Schönberg, Messiaen, Xenakis, Globokar, Castiglioni, Takemitsu, R. Strauss, Pepping, Tippett, Ives, and Barber. His abundant recordings for Polish Radio, Dutch Radio, Sender Freies Berlin, Bayrischer Rundfunk, Südwestrundfunk, and Westdeutscher Rundfunk and for Polish and German Television as well as his numerous CD-, MC-, LP- and video recordings reflect the quality of his work, for which, in addition, he has received countless prestigious awards. The high artistic level of Polski Chór Kameralny under his direction time and again inspires composers to write works for unaccompanied choir and world premiere performances conducted by Jan Łukaszewski are counted in their many hundreds.
Apart from all that, always keen to share his unique knowledge and appreciation of music with the public, Jan Łukaszewski has given many a stimulus to musical life in general. In Gdansk alone, to date he initiated and directed, among others, 10 International Symposia on Choral Music, the “Bach Days”, the “Chopin Festival”, and last but not least is founder and director of the hugely popular annual International Mozart Festival “Mozartiana” which attracts thousands of visitors every year.
Karol Marianowski
Karol Marianowski - cellist, since 2007 a member of the Meccore String Quartet. He graduated with honours from the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, where he was taught by Tomasz Strahl, Kazimierz Michalik and Andrzej Bauer.
In 2000, he received a scholarship to study with Andrew Mark at the Boston Conservatory (USA). He has taken part in many masterclasses, given by outstanding teachers and artists, including A. Mai, T. Kuhne, D. Szafrana, M. Sadlo and S. Roldugin. As a soloist and chamber musician, he has performed in Germany, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Russia, Switzerland, the US, Japan and Lithuania.
He has appeared in many festivals: the ‘Warsaw Autumn', ‘Musica Polonica Nova', Arvo Pärt's ‘Person of the Borderland' festival, ‘De Musica', the ‘Chain' festival of the music of Witold Lutosławski, the Paweł Szymański Festival, Rheingau Musik Festspiele, ‘Budapest Spring' and ‘Heidelberg Frühling', as well as giving recitals in prestigious concert halls, such as the Beethovenhaus in Bonn, Warsaw Philharmonic, London's Wigmore Hall and the Musikverein in Vienna.
As a soloist, he has performed with the Wrocław, Holy Cross and Jelenia Góra philharmonic orchestras, the chamber orchestra of Gdańsk Academy of Music and the Concerto Avenna chamber orchestra, under such conductors as Krzysztof Penderecki, Marcin Nałęcz-Niesiołowski, Łukasz Borowicz, Andrzej Bauer and Andrzej Mysiński.
In 2005 and 2007, he received grants from the Minister of Culture, and in 2010 a ‘Young Poland' grant. He teaches cello at the Fryderyk Chopin School of Music in Warsaw and also on the chamber music faculty of the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań.
Jarosław Nadrzycki
Jarosław Nadrzycki is widely considered as one of the most exciting violinists of his generation in the world today.
At the age of twelve, he made his soloistic debut at the Great Hall of Tchaikovsky's Conservatory in Moscow. Ever since then he presented his unique talent alongside some of the most prestigious orchestras and ensembles in Europe, Asia and both continents of America.
Born in Żagań, where he began his musical education, further continued in Poznań's Academy of Music with Prof. Jadwiga Kaliszewska. Additionally graduated from the Mozarteum University
in Salzburg with Prof. Igor Ozim, and the Royal Academy of Music in London with Prof. Igor Petrushevski.
Jaroslaw is a winner of numerous major international competitions, such as: Aram Khachaturian International Violin Competition in Yerevan (2010), Valsesia Musica Competition in Varallo (2010), G. Enescu International Competition in Bucharest (2009), Max Rostal Competition in Berlin (2002), Jascha Heifetz Competition in Vilnius (2000), and UK's Haverhill Sinfonia Soloist Competition (2008), as well as a laureate of: Tibor Varga International Competition in Martigny (2004), Benjamin Britten Competition in London (2008), and Henryk Wieniawski Competition in Poznań (2001).
The most significant solo appearances of his include Krzysztof Penderecki Violin Concerto No. 2 “Metamorphosen” with the Simón Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela led by the composer himself (2010). In 2013, Jarosław Nadrzycki performed thrice the same Penderecki's concerto at the 17th Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival with MDR Sinfonieorchester under the buton of Kristjan Järvi.
He appeared with many renowned orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Hamburg Philharmonic, Vilnius State Philharmonic, “Transylvania” State Philharmonic and George Enescu Philharmonic orchestras; the Simón Bolivar, The State of Mexico, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, Slovac Radio, Polish National Radio, Thessaloniki and Zurich symphony orchestras; the Youth State Orchestra of Armenia, Sinfonia Iuventus and the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of the Polish Radio.
Furthermore, he has had the honour of performing alongside conductors and musical personalities including: Horia Andreescu, Enrique Batiz, Massimiliano Caldi, Agnieszka Duczmal, Paul Goodwin, Giancarlo Guerrero, Alexander Humala, Kristjan Järvi, Krzysztof Penderecki, Thomas Sanderling, Sergey Smbatyan and Maxim Vengerov.
Between the years of 2013-2018, he collaborated as a leading violinist of Meccore String Quartet, further in 2018, he founded Boarte Piano Trio, with which he gained recognition from audiences in Europe and the United States. As a result of many years of collaboration with the pianist Joanna Zathey, an album with works for piano and violin by Brahms was released under the Orphée Classics label in 2018. In 2021, two albums with works by Bach and Mendelssohn-Bartholdy were released under the Hänssler Classic label, recorded together with the flautist Krzysztof Maciej Kaczka, the L'Appassionata Chamber Orchestra and the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has repeatedly performed at the London’s Wigmore Hall, Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, the Romanian Atheneum in Bucharest, Ahmed Adnan Saygun Arts Center in Izmir, Bozar in Brussels and the Pollack Hall in Montreal. The 2023/24 concert season includes a debut at the Musikverein in Vienna, a US tour with the Boarte Piano Trio, and performances in numerous concert halls in Europe.
The artist has made many radio and TV recordings for such broadcasters as the Bayerischer Rundfunk, BBC Radio 3, ZDF, TV ORF Austria, Mezzo TV, TVR Romania, TVP Kultura. He has recorded CDs for DUX, Warner Music Poland, MDG Classics, Orphée Classics.
Bartek Barczyk
Ewa Pobłocka
A prize-winner of the 10th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (1980), where she was also awarded the mazurka prize. She studied at the Gdańsk State College of Music with Zbigniew Śliwiński and Jerzy Sulikowski (diploma with distinction, 1981), before postgraduate studies in Hamburg with Conrad Hansen. In 1977 she won the Viotti International Competition in Vercelli and two years later the Gold Medal in the International Young Laureates Festival in Bordeaux.
She has given concerts in almost all European countries, as well as in both Americas, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Africa, Singapore, Korea, Japan and Australia. Her discography contains more than 50 albums, covering solo, chamber and concert repertoire from the Baroque to the present day, recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Pony Canyon, Victor JVC, Conifer Records, CD Accord, BeArTon and the NIFC. She is also an esteemed pedagogue. For 25 years, she taught piano at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. She has given numerous masterclasses in Canada, the US, Vietnam, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, China, Ireland, Belgium, Norway, Germany and elsewhere. She has served on the juries of national and international piano competitions, including the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2005, 2015 2021 and 2025, the International Chopin Competition on Period Instruments in Warsaw in 2018 and 2023, and also the Chopin Competition in Miami and the international piano competitions in Hamamatsu and Ettlingen. In August 2021, her first book, Forte-piano, was published by słowo/obraz terytoria. She has also hosted programmes on Polish Radio 2 devoted to Bach.
David Ausserhofer
Veriko Tchumburidze
VAt an age of only 20, Veriko Tchumburidze won First Prize in the prestigious Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition, immediately attracting the attention of the music world.
Born in Adana (Turkey) in 1996, Ms Tchumburidze began her studies at Mersin University's State Conservatory at the age of four as a student of Selahattin Yunkuş and Lili Tchumburidze. She continued her studies in 2010 with Professor Dora Schwarzberg as part of the Young Musicians on World Stages (YMWS) project, created and mentored by Güher & Süher Pekinel, with the financial support of Tüpraş, at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna.
Having been accepted to the Musikhochschule München at age of 19, Ms Tchumburidze continued her studies with Ana Chumachenco, attending master classes in various countries with, among others, Professor Igor Ozim and Professor Dora Schwarzberg.
Ms Tchumburidze plays a violin made by Giambattista Guadagnini in 1756, provided thanks to the generosity of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben in 2016.
When only 8 years old, Ms Tchumburidze won first prize at the Gülden Turalı National Violin Competition, and in 2006 she received first prize at the Georgian National Competition. In 2012, at age 16, she won first prize at the 7th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians by a unanimous verdict of the jury, achieving the highest score of all participants. She was subsequently invited to several international concerts and festivals in different countries, including Russia, Switzerland and Germany.
In 2013 Ms Tchumburidze was named the Best Emerging Musician by the Andante music magazine in Turkey and performed at the opening concert of the 41st Istanbul Music Festival with the Borusan Symphony Orchestra. In the same year she was invited to participate in the Seiji Ozawa Academy Master Class and to the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. She went on to continue her studies with the famous violinist and pedagogue Ana Chumachenco, with whom she is currently working in Munich.
Her concert with the YMWS scholars in March 2014 at the Zurich Tonhalle Chamber Series was recorded live and released as a DVD with interviews of DRS Radio. Immediately after the DVD release in 2014, Tchumburidze was invited to perform with the Swiss Chamber Orchestra at the Culture and Convention Center in Lucerne. After that concert she was chosen by the Orpheum Musik Stiftung Zürich, which prepares extraordinary musicians for a world career, to release a CD series together with the Munich Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Howard Griffiths on the occasion of Orpheum's 25th anniversary, in cooperation with Sony Classical.
Ms Tchumburidze was the first ever Turkish/Georgian musician to be accepted to participate in the famous 15th Tchaikovsky International Competition in 2015. Tchumburidze has performed with international orchestras, including the Züricher Kammerorchester, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester, the Musikkollegium Winterthur and the Russian State Symphony Orchestra.
Together with the YMWS scholars she played in 2015 as a member of the Trio Arte ensemble with cellist Dorukhan Doruk and pianist Yunus Tuncalı. The trio played recitals at the Boğaziçi Albert Long Hall, the Notre Dame de Sion Concert Hall and at the D-Marin Classical Music Festival. The ensemble played more concerts in the chamber music series at the Süreyya Opera at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall: they performed Beethoven's Triple Concerto with the Pekinel sisters and the Istanbul and Izmir symphony orchestras, as well as the Presidential Symphony Orchestra, Ankara. In April 2016 she took part in the Oslo ECMA chamber music festival.
In January 2016 she performed in Zürich to promote her first CD released by Sony, giving numerous interviews to the most important international press outlets. That month, Ms Tchumburidze recorded a CD featuring John Williams’s Schindler’s List for Sony Classical together with the Brandenburgisches Kammerorchester and Howard Griffiths. Ms Tchumburidze was elected by Orpheum Stiftung to headline the opening concert of the Zürich Opernhaus Film Festival on 1 October 2016.
In June 2016, as member of Trio Arte, Ms Tchumburidze received first prize in the chamber music category at the Pietro Argento International Music Competition at Gioia del Colle in Italy. Immediately after the competition, she played a recital with world-famous violist Gérard Caussé at the 44th International Istanbul Music Festival. The performance was filmed. Trio Arte also performed the world premiere of renowned composer Özkan Manav's work Ludus Modalis written especially for this event and dedicated to Trio Arte.
Gela Megrelidze
George Tchitchinadze
He has won both public and critical acclaim thanks to his brilliant music skills coupled with personal charisma and his warm and sensitive way of communicating with musicians and audience.
George Tchitchinadze started his career as an opera conductor in 1998, when he conducted the Gala Concert at the International Opera Festival in Tbilisi, Georgia. Since the artistic season 2017/18, he holds a position as chief conductor and artistic director of the Polish Baltyc Filharmonic in Gdansk.
He is now widely recognized as being responsible for the increasing popularity and quality of the concerts by the Baltyc Filharmonic Orchestra. In April 2022 he made his successful debut in Aida with the Opera Baltycka Gdansk.
He is a professor at the Tbilisi State Conservatory and head of the Opera Department. Tchichinadze has been successfully conducting several Polish orchestras, such as the Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia and the Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra, where he is a regular guest. He toured Israel with the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theatre, performing in Jerusalem, Quiriat Haim, Herzelia and Rishon LeZion. He also conducted the Netherlands Radio Filharmonic Orchestra, the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Orchestra in Vilnius, the Lithuanian National Chamber Orchestra and the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra in Damascus.
He conducted operas for the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theatre, including performances of Verdi’s Aida, Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci and Mozart’s Don Giovanni. He conducted Saint Christopher Chamber Orchestra at the International Music Festival “Alternative” in Vilnius, Lithuania. George Tchitchinadze was a Music Director of the International Music Festival in Saga, Japan.
Paweł Wakarecy
An honours graduate in piano from the class of Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń at the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, he had previously attended the Karol Szymanowski School of Music in Toruń, spending nine years in the piano class of Ewa Skarżewska.
He won prizes and distinctions in numerous Polish and international piano competitions for children and youngsters.
He won special prizes in the International Ignacy Jan Paderewski Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz (2007) and was a finalist in the International Fryderyk Chopin Competition in Darmstadt (2009).
In 2010, he received a distinction and the special prize for the best Polish participant in the 16th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
He has performed widely in Poland, including at the Chopin Festival in Duszniki Zdrój (twice), the ‘Chopin and his Europe’ festival in Warsaw and the Polish Piano Festival in Słupsk, as well as abroad – in Germany, Sweden, Russia, Bulgaria, France, Switzerland, the UK, Belgium, Norway, Italy, China, Japan and Chile.
In 2012, he toured Ukraine with the ‘Amadeus’ Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio and also gave a recital in Moscow.
In 2013, he made his debut at the Konzerthaus in Vienna and also gave recitals at the Charterhouse in Valldemossa, Majorca, at the Bibliothèque polonaise in Paris and in Nohant.
In 2015, he took part in the first performance of Agnieszka Duczmal’s arrangement for chamber orchestra and piano of Edward Elgar’s Piano Quintet.
He has played in many prestigious concert halls, including the Cadogan Hall and Westminster Cathedral Hall in London, Salle Cortot in Paris, Oji Hall in Tokyo and grand hall of Kiev Conservatory.
He performs regularly as a soloist with the Toruń Symphony Orchestra and has also worked with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Polish Radio Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR) in Katowice and Elbląg Chamber Orchestra, the philharmonic orchestras of Warmia-Masuria, Łódź, Pomerania, Rzeszów, Lublin, Szczecin and Kielce, Sinfonia Baltica, the Iuventus Symphony Orchestra, the Russian Chamber Orchestra of St Petersburg, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra and Multikamerata.
He has performed under the baton of such conductors as Antoni Wit, Agnieszka Duczmal, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Marek Moś, Zygmunt Rychert, Jerzy Salwarowski, Łukasz Borowicz, Tadeusz Wojciechowski, Wojciech Rodek, Piotr Sułkowski, Bohdan Jarmołowicz and Daniel Smith.
He is also an active chamber musician. With his wife, Aleksandra Soboń-Wakarecy, he performs as the Wakarecy Piano Duo, including at Polish Radio, and they have also won prizes in the Białystok International Piano Duo Competition (2015) and the International Roma Piano Competition (2015). He also works with the cellist Marcin Zdunik and has performed with Jakub Jakowicz (violin) and Łukasz Długosz (flute).
He has two CDs to his name: the first (2010), released by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, features recordings made during the Chopin Competition; the second, on CD Accord (2013), is a solo recital of works by Chopin, Paderewski and Zarębski.
Paweł Wakarecy is currently an assistant on the Piano Faculty of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz.
Natalia Zaleska
Natalia Zaleska is the laureate of the 5th Prize at the 52nd National Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Her achievements also include 3rd Prize at the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Szafarnia, 2nd Prize at the National EPTA Piano Competition in Kraków, and 2nd Prize at the Moszkowski International Competition in Kielce. She has additionally been a semifinalist in several prestigious competitions, such as the Arthur Rubinstein in Memoriam International Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz, the Halina Czerny-Stefańska in Memoriam International Piano Competition in Poznań, and the International Competition of Polish Music in Rzeszów. She also participated successfully in the F. Schubert International Piano Duo Competition in Jeseník, receiving a distinction. Natalia Zaleska is a laureate of the “Young Stage” of the Polish Piano Festival in Słupsk. As a soloist, she has performed with the Świętokrzyska Philharmonic Orchestra, the Polish Baltic Philharmonic Sinfonia Baltica, the Elbląg Chamber Orchestra and the Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra. She has appeared in major venues including the Świętokrzyska Philharmonic, the Pomeranian Philharmonic, the Polish Baltic Philharmonic, the Sinfonia Baltica Concert Hall in Słupsk, the Royal Castle in Warsaw, the Royal Łazienki Park, the Fryderyk Chopin Birthplace in Żelazowa Wola and the Polish Radio Concert Studio. Zaleska has also taken part in international programmes such as Morningside Music Bridge in Calgary (Canada) and the International Chopin Piano Courses in Duszniki-Zdrój.
Capella Bydgostiensis
Capella Bydgostiensis Pro Musica Antiqua group was established in 1962 by the founder of the Philharmonic and its long-term director, Andrzej Szwalbe.
Capella instantly became one of the leading early music chamber orchestras in Poland. From its beginning until the 90s the musicians were accompanied by the octet of madrigal singers who also performed as soloists.
Concert activities of the chamber music group distinguish the Pomeranian Philharmonic from other similar institutions in the country.
Cultivating early music of Polish and foreign masters of the Renaissance and Baroque, reminiscent of the bands of the 16th-18th centuries, has been a creative goal of Capella. Currently, the repertoire of Capella Bydgostiensis includes chamber music ranging from the Baroque to modern times.
The group has performed for Polish Radio and Television, recorded dozens of albums and films and performed in numerous European countries.
Between 1962 and 1970 Capella Bydgostiensis was led by Stanisław Gałoński. Later, until 1990, the baton was held by Włodzimierz Szymański. The following artistic directors were: Karol Teutsch, Daniel Stabrawa, Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk, Wiesław Kwaśny, José Maria Florêncio and Kai Bumann.
Capella Bydgostiensis has carried out recordings for Polish, Dutch, and Spanish labels, as well as for radio and television. In recent years, just to name a few: "Ave Maria" songs by ten composers of various eras with soprano Barbara Kubiak, "Symphony for String Orchestra" by Grażyna Bacewicz (Ewa Kupiec – piano, Mariusz Smolij – conductor) – the album recorded for the world-renowned record company, Naxos, received the "Fryderyk" award in the category of the best Polish album abroad in 2015.
In 2017, Capella Bydgostiensis celebrated its 55th anniversary and recorded the album with classical music hits "Capella Bydgostiensis. Przeboje 55-lecia" ("Capella Bydgostiensis. Hits of the 55th Anniversary").
In 2019 the ensamble performed the world premiere of Paderewski’s Six Songs op. 18 (to poems by Adam Mickiewicz) and Douze melodies op. 22 (to poems by Catulle Mendès) in an interpretation by composer Marcin Gumiela.
Cappella Gedanensis
Cappella Gedanensis has been playing for over 30 years. The group is a vocal and instrumental ensemble, specialising in renditions of early music. The beginnings of the ensemble date back to 1981, when a group of musicians led by Alina Kowalska – Pińczak, inspired by the rich collection of works by Gdańsk composers of the 16th – 18th centuries compiled in the library of the Polish Academy of Sciences, decided to return this music, which had been forgotten for generations to its former glory.
In continuing the tradition of the Town Councillors’ Ensemble formed in the 16th century, Cappella Gedanensis referred to Gdańsk’s musical heritage, finding its aim in the arrangement and publishing of the masterpieces of Gdańsk music. The music of Gdańsk performed by the Cappella is regularly featured in radio and television programmes broadcast by stations in Poland and abroad. The ample output of the Gdańsk musical legacy is represented by the following composers: Franciscus de Rivulo, P. Siefert, C. Förster, C. Büthner, Ch. Werner, N. Zangius, J.V. Meder, F.A. Volckmar, M.D. Freislich, J.B.Ch. Freislich. In addition to the Gdańsk repertory, the group also performs the great oratorio and cantata works by G.F. Händel, J.S. Bach, A. Vivaldi, B. Pergolesi, W.A. Mozart, F. Schubert, C. Saint-Saëns. Part of this prolific output has been released on cassettes, analogue discs and compact discs (11 CDs). A significant repertory is being prepared for recording. An album of Christmas carols recorded by the Cappella entitled The New Year at the Holy Father’s won a Platinum Disc.
The crowning of the groups work was its participation in festivals and concerts almost round the entire world – the USA, China, Israel and in most of the countries of Europe, including at the WDR Radio Festival in Herne and Schwabisch Gmünd (Spalt, Germany), the Sacred Music Festival in Abu Gosh (Israel) Wratislavia Cantans (Wrocław, Poland), the Early Music Festival (Brussels, Belgium), the Baroque Music Festival (Germany, Lithuania, Poland), the Royal Music Festival (Stockholm, Sweden). The group also performed for Pope John Paul II and took part in important historical events, playing for European presidents and monarchs: King Carl Gustaf XVI of Sweden; Queen Margaret II of Denmark; King Harald of Norway; Charles, the Prince of Wales, presidents Vaclav Havel and Lech Wałęsa and for Lady Margaret Thatcher. In 1992, after eleven years of performing, Cappella Gedanensis obtained the status of a cultural institution approved by the Gdańsk City Council.
The Baltic Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in Gdańsk
Formed in 1974, the Gdansk Symphony Orchestra changed its name the next year to The Symphony Orchestra of Polish Philharmonic Hall. The founder, and for many years the artistic director, was Zygmunt Rychert. The work of the young conductor and the orchestra quickly won recognition among critics and music lovers not only in Poland but also abroad.
Artistic direction has been under the auspices of:
- Zygmunt Rychert (1976-1981; 1998-2003),
- Bogusław Madey (1981-1983),
- Jerzy Salwarowski (1983-1984 an artistic consultant),
- Wojciech Czepiel (1984-1986),
- Wojciech Rajski (1987-1989),
- Paweł Przytocki (1989-1991),
- Janusz Przybylski (1992-1993),
- Roman Perucki (1993-1998),
- Michał Nesterowicz( 2004- 2008),
- Kai Bumann ( 2008 - 2012 ),
- Ernst van Tiel ( 2012 - 2017),
- George Tchitchinadze ( from 2017 )
Many superb conductors have been invited to work with the Baltic Philharmonic Hall Orchestra - mention has to be made of work conducted by: Witold Rowicki, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Kazimierz Kord, Krzysztof Missona, Karol Teutsch, Jerzy Katlewicz, Andrzej Markowski, Jerzy Salwarowski, Wojciech Michniewski, Tadeusz Wojciechowski, Tadeusz Strugała, Marek Pijarowski, José Mario Florencio, Mirosław Błaszczyk, Tomasz Bugaj, Kai Bumann, Franco Ferrara, Enoch von zu Gutenberg, Carlo Zecchi and Felix Carrasco.
The Baltic Philharmonic Hall boasts a host of guest performers, including among the others: Ewa Pobłocka, Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, Krystian Zimerman, Krzysztof Jakowicz, Piotr Paleczny, Janusz Olejniczak, Leszek Możdżer, Piotr Pławner, Kaia Danczowska, Andrzej Bauer, Krzysztof Jabłoński, Bożena Harasimowicz, Leonard Andrzej Mróz, Jadwiga Rappé, Elżbieta Towarnicka, Vadim Brodski, Valery Oistrach, Edward Auer, Barbara Hendricks, Nigel Kennedy, Ann Murray, Lucia Aliberti and Helen Bickers.
The musicians from the Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra have been guests at many festivals in Poland and in Europe, such as Poznan Spring, Vratislavia Cantans, Warsaw Autumn, Oratorio Festival in Denmark, Scandinavian festival "Nordteile", or famous "Aspekte"in Salzburg. They have been invited to tour in Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy, and to Concert Halls in Vienna, Salzburg, Paris, Berlin, Bremen, Frankfurt and St Petersburgh. During the 11th Music Biennale in Berlin (1987) the Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Wojciech Michniewski won the critics prize for the best Orchestra for the performance of Krzysztof Penderecki's 1st Symphony.
In 1989 during a European tour, the orchestra gave aco ncert with a choir "Cecilien Verein" from Fankfurt in Munich Philharmonic Hall, Alte Oper in Frankfurt and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In 1991 thet performed Verdi's Requiem inTours, Marseille, in Switzerland - Zurich, Basel, Lausanne, Bern and concerts in Italy crowned by a performance for His Holiness Pope John Paul II.
In 1988 the orchestra represented Poland at the world exhibition Expo in Lisbon.
For a couple of years the orchestra has given concerts In many German cities, including Schleswig, Bayreuth, Bremen and Berlin.
The Polish Philharmonic Hall and its musicians often initiate and create many cultural events in Gdansk and along the coast. On the 1000th anniversary of the City of Gdansk in 1997, in cooperation with other Gdansk artists, they prepared music for the mass in Rome celebrated by John Paul II, which opened the celebration of the city's millennium. During a cycle of concerts organized with the Polish-German Foundation "Millennium Musical Meetings" the president of Germany Roman Herzog and president of Poland Aleksander Kwasniewski were present .
During the celebration of 25 years of Solidarity and the Events of August '80 in Gdańsk Polish Philharmonic Hall took an active part in the biggest artistic events. The musicians conducted by Michal Nesterowicz took part in two spectacular events- Jean Michael Jarre's concert " Space of Freedom" (26.08.05) and the world's first performance of J. A. P. Kaczmarek's "Cantata of Freedom" at the Solidarity Square next to the Monument of the killed shipyard workers.
Polski Chór Kameralny Schola Cantorum Gedanensis
POLSKI CHÓR KAMERALNY is a full-time professional chamber choir of international standing. Founded in Gdansk in 1978 and since 1983 under the direction of Jan Łukaszewski it keeps going from strength to strength.
The declared aim of the 24 professional musicians making up the ensemble is to work at an instrumental, ‘orchestral’ level, which besides other skills requires total control of the vocal instrument, thus allowing all musical and technical demands of a score to be met. They 'specialise in variety' performing music from all genres and periods, a cappella or accompanied, sacred or profane, Gregorian chant, motets, opera, oratorio, film music, jazz, pop, etc. from medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music through Romantic and late Romantic to 20th and 21st century compositions. The world premiere performances sung by them are about to top the 620 mark and include works by such composers as Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and Krzysztof Penderecki, Wojciech Kilar, Augustyn Bloch, Krzysztof Meyer, Andrzej Koszewski, or Paweł Łukaszewski, and many more who have dedicated compositions to Polski Chór Kameralny. Frequent guests at some of the most renowned of international festivals they perform at events like the Warsaw Autumn, Ruhr-Festival, or TENSO Days. The number of their CD recordings, several winning awards like Orphée d’Or or Fryderyk (plus many more nominations) by 2016 had well exceeded 80. Countless radio and TV recordings in Poland, Europe (additionally some concerts as EBU live broadcasts), and North America complete the picture.
Polski Chór Kameralny prepares around 40 different programmes a year and co-operates with orchestras like NOSPR (Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra), the Polish Baltic Philharmonic, The Polish Chamber Philharmonic Sopot, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Polish Radio Chamber Orchestra “Amadeus”, The Academy of Ancient Music, Venice Baroque Orchestra, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, and many more as well as with some of the cream of international choral conductors like Eric Ericson, Uwe Gronostay, Frieder Bernius, and Stephen Layton to name but a few.
Polski Chór Kameralny also organises its own music festivals, most notably, since 2006 they have been running their own annual 7-Day “Mozartiana” International Festival presenting Mozart’s Music in various guises and every year drawing thousands of visitors to the historic city centre of Gdansk, to Oliva Park, the Abbots’ Palace, and to Oliva Archcathedral.
In 2023, Polski Chór Kameralny celebrated the 45th anniversary of its artistic activity.
Quartetto Werther
Misia Iannoni Sebastianini – violin
Martina Santarone – viola
Vladimir Bogdanovic - cello
Antonino Fiumara – piano