
Women in Music
The first international festival “Women in Music” is about to start!
The Polish Chamber Musicians’ Association is launching the first international festival promoting women composers and their work. “Kobiety w muzyce / Women in Music” is an online festival in which, apart from Polish composers, there will also be artists from the collaborating country. You will be able to listen to the festival on 4, 5 and 11, 12 October on the Youtube channel of the Polish Chamber Musicians’ Association.
The festival will present the works by female composers from Poland and The Great Britain. The works by, among others, G. Bacewicz, W. Landowska, I. Poldowski, E. Fabianska- Jelinska, as well as R. Clarke, J. Weir, E. Hugh-Jones and the British composer of Polish roots – R. Panufnik. The core of the festival is music written by women and music inspired by women composers. The festival, however, is not only the music itself, but also performers, including: Katarzyna Budnik, Julia Kociuban, Katarzyna Duda, Monika Gardoń-Preinl and Jaga Klimaszewska.
With the support of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama a vocal recital of Polish and British music will be performed. The pieces will be performed by Katherine McIndoe (current GSMD student) as well as Magdalena Molendowska (soprano) and Julia Samojło (piano)- graduates of GSMD. The event will be held under the honorary patronage of: the Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Mr Mieczysław Struk, the President of the City of Gdańsk, Mrs Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, and the British Embassy in Warsaw.
The concerts were recorded in the Baltic Sea Cultural Center in Gdańsk. They will be broadcasted on the YouTube channel of Teh Polish Chamber Musicians’ Association: https://www.youtube.com/c/SPMKPolishChamberMusiciansAssociation
Organizers

Partners







Katherine McIndoe (soprano)
Katherine is a soprano from New Zealand, recently graduated from the Opera Studies programme at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she studied under Yvonne Kenny. She is a Young Artist with Garsington Opera for the 2021 season, and has been a Britten-Pears Young Artist at the Aldeburgh Festival. In New Zealand, she was an Emerging Artist with New Zealand Opera, and a member of the inaugural Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation Singer Development Programme. Since moving to the UK, she has performed at the Barbican, Wigmore Hall, Snape Maltings, Sadler’s Wells, and live for BBC Radio 3. In early 2020, she performed in a UK tour with the Richard Alston Dance Company, singing Britten’s On This Island in a newly choregraphed piece entitled Shine On!, part of a programme recently shortlisted for a South Bank Arts Award. Katherine holds an Artist Diploma and a Master of Performance with Distinction from the Guildhall, and a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours from the New Zealand School of Music. Her recent roles include Barbarina (The Little Green Swallow, Jonathan Dove); Susanna (Il segreto di Susanna); Iolanta (Iolanta); the Governess (The Turn of the Screw); Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte); Tatyana (Eugene Onegin); and Giulietta (I Capuleti e I Montecchi).

Magdalena Molendowska (soprano)
She graduated with honors from S. Moniuszko Music Academy in Gdańsk and Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she has been awarded the prestigious Gold Medal in her final year. In 2008 she was a member of the Opera Studio Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, where she worked with Renata Scotto. At the moment she is at a vocal guidance of Yvonne Kenny.
While studying at the GSMD Opera Course she was working under the guidance of Rudolf Piernay. She had also a priviledge to attend masterclasses of such artists as Gerald Finley, Anita Garanca, Helena Łazarska or Claudio Desderi. Her wide repertoire includes songs, oratorios and cantatas. In London Barbican Hall she presented songs by K. Szymanowski and A. Dvořak. Invited by Malcolm Martineau she recorded Huit chansons polonaises by F. Poulenc on the Poulenc vol.4 album. She is salso interested in contemporary music, for example she made first performance of Rythmi Urbani cantata by K. Dębski. Together with pianist Julia Samojło, a unique recording of the song of the eminent Polish emigrant composer Zygmunt Stojowski.
Since 2011 she has been a soloist of the Polish National Opera in Warsaw, where she made her debut at in Jakob Lenz by Wolfgang Rihm. In the 2012/13 season she returned to the Polish National Opera to perform the title role in Halka by Stanisław Moniuszko. She currently cooperates with Wroclaw Opera House, Krakow Opera House, Opera i Filharmonia Podlaska, Glyndebourne Festival and Baden-Baden Festspiele.
Her operatic repertoire consists of such roles by W.A. Mozart as: Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Contessa Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito and Arminda in La Finta Giardiniera. In her repertory list you will find also: Marguerite and Elena in Mefistofele A. Boito, Micaëla in Carmen G. Bizet, Mimi in La Boheme by G. Puccini, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin P. Tchaikovsky, Kurfürstin in Der Vogelhändler C. Zeller, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus J. Strauss and Mother in Hansel and Gretel by E. Humperdinck. In 2016 she appeared in the title role in Tosca by G. Puccini, in Wrocław Opera House production. In 2014 Magdalena Molendowska has debuted as A Milliner (Der Rosenkavalier) and Aninna (La Traviata) during Glyndebourne Festival with which in 2016 she has toured as Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni). The last season has brought her return as Halka to Polish National Opera and her appearance for the first time in Warsaw Chamber Opera as Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro. In 2019 she made her very well received debut as Katerina in The Greek Passion at Opera North, as well as in Silesia Philharmonic, where she sung the soprano part in Deutches Requiem by Brahms. Recently Naxos released a CD containing the recording of the opera Halka by S. Moniuszko under the baton of Gabriel Chmura and where miss Molendowska sung the title role. Among the upcoming events in 2021 it is worth to name the Magdalena Molendowska’s role and house debut as Leonore in Fidelio by Beethoven this Autumn and performing solo part in the XXI Symphony “Kaddish” by M. Wajnberg in Pomeranian Philharmonic Hall in Bydgoszcz.
She is actively involved in the activities of the Association of Polish Chamber Musicians in cooperation with which she implements several important artistic projects. She is a PhD student at the Music Academy in Bydgoszcz.

Julia Samojło (piano)
Julia SAMOJŁO graduated from the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz in the class of Prof. Tatiana Shebanova. Following her studies, she completed an artistic internship under the supervision of Prof. Szábolcs Esztényi and post-graduate and doctoral studies under the artistic supervision of Prof. Maja Nosowska at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. She honed her skills under the direction of Ronan O’Hora, Graham Johnson, and Pamela Lidiard at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London as part of the Erasmus scholarship and a two-year Guildhall Artist Fellowship. She has participated in master classes conducted by such artists as Halina Czerny-Stefańska, Emanuel Krasovsky, Lee KumSing, Alexander Kobrin, Victor Derevianko, Alon Goldstein, Jerome Rose, Roger Vignoles, Julius Drake, and Martin Katz. She was a piano teacher at the City University in London (2011-2012) and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (2011-2014). In 2007-2010 and 2016-2018 she was a chamber music pianist at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.
A special place in the repertoire of Julia Samojło is occupied by piano chamber music and contemporary music. The pianist has made numerous premieres and many recordings for DUX, Musica Sacra, the Library-Music Library of the Polish Composers’ Union, and Polish Radio. In 2020 she premiered 24 Variations on a theme of a folk song by Roman Ryterband. In 2019 she recorded all songs by Zygmunt Stojowski with Magdalena Molendowska- soprano. In 2017, she made the world premiere of the Concerto for piano and orchestra, written for her by Edward Nesbit, with the New Music Orchestra conducted by Szymon Bywalec. In 2014-2017, she recorded compositions for solo piano and chamber ones by Krzysztof Baculewski for the record label DUX. In 2014, the CD of outstanding saxophonist Paweł Gusnar Saxophone Varie which includes, among others, Invitation by Maria Pokrzywińska recorded by Paweł and Julia, received the award of the phonographic industry Fryderyk in the category Album of the year – chamber music. In 2010, she recorded the Piano Concerto by Stefan Kisielewski with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk.
In November 2015, Julia Samojło made her debut at the Carnegie Hall in New York with cellist Karolina Jaroszewska, with whom she has been creating a duo since 2008. She has also performed, among others, at Koninklijk Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Barbican Hall, Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, St John’s Smith Square in London, Rudolfinum in Prague, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and National Philharmonic in Warsaw. She has given concerts with, among others, the Sinfonia Varsovia, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Polish Radio Orchestra, New Music Orchestra, Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Łukasz Borowicz, Krzesimir Dębski, Jacek Kaspszyk, Alexander Liebreich, Szymon Bywalec, and Marek Moś. She has often performed at the Warsaw Music Encounters festival, concert cycles Musical Seasons of the Year, and Composers’ Portraits organised by the Polish Composers’ Union. She has also participated in such festivals as: Warsaw Autumn, From Chopin to Górecki – sources and inspirations, Radio Autumn in Prague, Oxford Lieder Festival, City of London Festival, and at the final concert of the Young Songmakers’ Almanac directed by Graham Johnson in London. Julia Samojło has been a laureate of numerous prizes and scholarships, including: 1st prize at the International Competition of Young Performers in Athens, Scholarship of the Prime Minister of Poland, Scholarship of the President of the City of Szczecin, Scholarship of the President of the City of Bydgoszcz, Scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. She is a chairman of the Warsaw branch of the Polish Chamber Musicians’ Association.

Katarzyna Duda (violin)
Katarzyna Duda- a versatile artist with an extremely expressive musical personality,soloist and chamber musician. She studied the violin under the supervision of professor Magdalena Rezler – Niesiołowska, studied in the violin master class of Maestro Tibor Varga at the Ecole Supérieure de Musique in Sion, Switzerland, and at the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw while working under the supervision of outstanding violinist, professor Jan Stanienda. Katarzyna Duda is the winner of leading awards at numerous national and international violin competitions, among which it is worth mentioning the prestigious “Prix Mozart” award for the best performance of W.A. Mozart’s violin concerto obtained at the
Tibor Varga International Violin Competition in Sion (Switzerland), as well as laurels received at the Tadeusz Wroński International Solo Violin Competition in Warsaw. She has received many scholarships including one at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in the USA. Critics agree on her sensational artistry and emphasize her ability to combine musical craftsmanship with extraordinary stage temperament, and virtuosity with immense musical sensitivity all at the same time. “The phenomenal Katarzyna Duda”- stated by Ruch Muzyczny after the premiere of Agata Zubel’s violin concert taking place in the concert hall of the Academy of Music in Katowice- the violinist was accompanied by the New Music Orchestra conducted by Szymon Bywalec. Newsweek described her as “one of the biggest stars among Polish violinists”, while the reviewer from Hi-Fi and Muzyka stated: “…all comparisons to the greatest violinists are fully merited.” Katarzyna Duda has performed and recorded with renowned orchestras, such as Orchestre de
Chambre de Lausanne, European Union Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio and Television Amadeus in Poznań, NOSPR, Polish Radio Orchestra, Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg State Academic Capella, Symphonic Orchestra at the Warsaw Philharmonic, Janáček Chamber Orchestra, AUKSO- Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy, Neue Ruhr Kammerphilharmonie, Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Władimir Tarnopolski Studio for New Music Ensemble, Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico, Silesian Chamber Orchestra conducted by: Enrique Batiz, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Agnieszka Duczmal, Lavard Skou Larsen, Marek Moś, Józef Wiłkomirski, Monika Wolińska, Jorge Mester and Łukasz Borowicz, among others. She performed alongside Waldemar Malicki, Hanna Holeksa, Camerata Quartet, Jan Stanienda, Katarzyna Budnik, Janusz Wawrowski, Marcin Zdunik, Piotr Pławner, Mariusz Patyra, Marek Bracha, Jakub Jakowicz and Krzysztof Chorzelski, among others.
The “Violin Summit” concert, in which the artist performed beside Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, Krzesimir Dębski and Michał Urbaniak received the highest distinction in the Pomeranian voivodeship- The Pomeranian Artistic Award Gryf 2003 in the “Artistic Event” category. She has performed in many prestigious venues, including the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, Rossini Hall in Padua, Conservatory in Moscow, NOSPR in Katowice, Kawai Omotesando Hall in Tokyo, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. During her Amsterdam debut, she was accompanied by outstanding Polish pianist – Ewa Pobłocka. All of the aforementioned concerts were enthusiastically received by the audience and critics. Duda’s performances have been broadcast by many TV and radio stations, including: Radio Suisse Romande, Polish Radio and Polish Television, TV stations in the Netherlands, Mexico, France, Germany and Russia. Katarzyna holds an extensive and diverse repertoire ranging from the Baroque period to contemporary music. Commissioned by the artist and the Silesian Society of Music, three violin concertos were composed by eminent composers such as Agata Zubel, Maciej Zieliński and Tomasz Opałka. All of these works are dedicated to Katarzyna Duda, the New Music Orchestra and its artistic director – Szymon Bywalec. Katarzyna Duda was nominated for the “Polityka’s Passport” award, as well as for the “Polish Music Lovers” prize in the “Classical Instrumentalist of the Year” category. Her first album, “Le Streghe”, recorded with pianist Waldemar Malicki (DUX), with the virtuoso repertoire for violin with piano accompaniment, received enthusiastic reviews in the media and was nominated for the Union of Audio Video Producers – FRYDERYK ‘2000 award as the only album with solo violin. The success of the first album inspired her to record “Le Streghe 2”- an album with virtuoso violin hits, accompanied by the Wrocław Chamber Orchestra “Wratislavia” conducted by Jan Stanienda (DUX). “Le Streghe 2” was also nominated for the FRYDERYK ‘2001 award. The artist has also recorded albums with violin music by Tadeusz Paciorkiewicz (Acte Prealable) and Andrzej Nikodemowicz (with pianist Agnieszka Schulz-Brzyska, DUX). In 2018, she recorded Sonata, Op. 13 by Ignacy Jan Paderewski (with pianist Robert Morawski, DUX / Paderewski Center in Kąśna Dolna). In 2020, Viennese label KAIROS released a monographic album with the works of Agata
Zubel, including a specially written concerto for violin and chamber orchestra for Katarzyna. Performed by the artist, the piece received yet another nomination for the FRYDERYK award. Katarzyna Duda plays an Italian instrument from the beginning of the 19th century.

Grzegorz Mania (piano)
Grzegorz Mania graduated with distinction from the Music Academy in Krakow, where he studied piano under Professor Stefan Wojtas. He is also a graduate (distinction) of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he was tutored by Martin Roscoe, Charles Owen and Caroline Palmer. Grzegorz is also a graduate of the Jagiellonian University, where he read law and recently obtained a PhD for a dissertation about music and copyright (awarded by the Polish Ministry of Science). He works as a soloist, with orchestra, as an accompanist and chamber musician, as well as regularly duetting with Alicja Smietana, Romana Szczepaniak, Maria Slawek, violinists and Piotr Rozanski, pianist. He is a member of the Extra Sounds Ensemble – the group has recently recorded a CD for Solo Musica, Munchen with pieces by Corelli, Vivaldi, Schnittke and Kreisler. Grzegorz played in many important halls and during many national and international festivals in Poland and abroad – UK, France, Austria, Italy, Norway, Iceland, Vietnam, Israel, USA. Performing at the International Chamber Music Workshops in Pulawy (Poland, 2003-2005), he has also been a finalist in a number of international solo and chamber competitions from 2002 to the present. He won numerous awards for an outstanding accompaniment during national and international instrumental competitions. He has played in master- classes by, among others, Jerome Rose, Victor Rosenbaum, Wolfgang Redik, Tadeusz Gadzina, Anthony Spiri, Peter S. Buck, Piotr Reichert; and has received coaching from Alexander Baillie, Ewa Bukojemska, Krzysztof Smietana, Wiesław Kwasny, Altenberg Trio, Alisdair Beatson, Carole Presland, Krzysztof Chorzelski and Jan Janski. Grzegorz is a co-founder and president of the Polish Chamber Musicians’ Association. He is an author of a book “Music and copyright law”, as well as a co-author of an innovative sight-reading handbook for pianists publishedby prestigious PWM Edition, famous from its edition.

Yuri Zhislin (violin)
Yuri Zhislin has recently been described by The Strad as a “virtuoso with a truly Romantic temperament”. He enjoys an active and illustrious career as soloist and chamber musician, performing in his native Russia, as well as Eastern and Western Europe, the United States, South America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Yuri studied at the Royal College of Music, gaining his ARCM Diploma with Honours. In 1993, he became the BBC Radio 2 Young Musician of the Year.
The orchestras that Yuri performed with as a soloist include the Oxford Philomusica, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the London Mozart Players, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra and the Queensland Symphony, to name a few.
Yuri’s discography includes a CD released in 2005 on the SOMM label, a violin/viola Duos CD for Naxos label with Natalia Lomeiko, and a string trio CD for the Nymbus Alliance label in 2011 featuring Bach’s Goldberg Variations, with Dmitry Sitkovetsky on violin and Luigi Piovano on cello. A keen chamber musician, Yuri has worked with such artists as Maria-Joao Pires, Barry Douglas, Natalie
Clein and Sergei Nakariakov among many others. Yuri has co – founded and became the Artistic Director of the Apollon International Chamber Music Festival in Cyprus in 2014.In 2004, Yuri formed the Russian Virtuosi of Europe, an ensemble comprising musicians with an enviable list of international awards and prizes. The ensemble recently completed successful tours to both South America and Russia. Yuri is a professor of violin and viola at the Royal College of Music in London and is in high demand as a visiting professor at Conservatoires in Europe, Asia and Australia. He has been a Co – Concermaster of the Oxford Philomusica since 2011.

Jaga Klimaszewska (violin)
Born in Gdansk, Poland Jaga Klimaszewska began studying violin at the age of seven. After graduating from the F.Nowowiejski Music School in Gdansk in 2009 she moved to London to continue her musical studies. She obtained her Bachelor of Music Diploma from Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2013 where she studied with Krzysztof Smietana. Jaga completed a Master of Performance at the Royal College of Music under the tutelage of Maciej Rakowski. For her studies she received the RCM Award and G.D. Fahrenheit Educational Scholarship awarded by the Mayor of Gdansk. She has taken part in many Workshops and Music Festivals in Europe. Jaga performed as a soloist and as a chamber musician in Poland, France, Austria, Germany, Russia, Switzerland and the UK in concert halls including Cadogan Hall, Elgar Room, Royal Festival Hall, Barbican Centre, Musikverein in Vienna, Unesco Hall in Paris and Mozarteum in Salzburg. She performed as a soloist with Cappella Gedanensis,Camerata Baltica and Silk Street Sinfonia, Scherzo Ensemble. Jaga worked with many well known artists including Maxim Vengerov, Leonid Kerbel, Philippe Graffin, Barnabas Kelemen,Carole Presland, Belcea Quartet,
Maxim Rysanov. In 2019 together with Mateusz Rettner she recorded her debut CD with music by Grażyna Bacewicz which includes two phonographic premieres. The disc was released by DUX. Jaga plays on a 1820 Jacob Fendt violin.

Katarzyna Budnik (viola)
A graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw in the violin class of prof. Mirosław Ławrynowicz, Andrzej Gębski and Janusz Wawrowski and in the viola class of prof. Piotr Reichert. Employed as an assistant professor in the viola class at her alma mater. Since February 2014, he has also been the leader of the viola group in the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra. In September 2013, she won the 3rd prize in the prestigious ARD competition in Munich. She was also successful in numerous national and international competitions: the 47th International Ludwig van Beethoven in Hradec (2008, 1st prize), 15th International Competition Johannes Brahms in Pörtschach (2008, 1st prize), 8th National Viola Competition Jan Rakowski (2008, 1st prize), the International Competition Max Rostal in Berlin (2009, 2nd prize), the International Chamber Music Competition Max Reger in Sondershausen (2009, 2nd Prize and Special Prize for the best performance of Max Reger’s solo viola suite) and the 4th International Competition Michał Spisak (2010, 2nd prize and Special Prize). As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed many times in Poland and other European countries (Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, France). In 2010, she took part in the Chamber Music Connects the World project organized by the Kronberg Academy, where she played with the most outstanding musicians: Gidon Kremer, Tatjana Grindenko, Yuri Bashmet and Frans Helmerson. She has performed at many renowned festivals, incl. in the Music Festival in Łańcut, the International Chamber Music Festival “Muzyka na Szczytach” in Zakopane, Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus (where she was invited by Gidon Kremer). In November 2013, her solo album Viola Recital was released, for which the viola player received the Fryderyk 2014 award. She received a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for her outstanding achievements. She is also a scholarship holder of the “Young Poland” program. In 2013, she was nominated for the “Polityka Passports” award.

Maciej Kułakowski (cello)
Born 1996 in Gdansk, he began playing the cello at age six in the class of prof. Jadwiga Ewald.
In 2015 at the age of 19, Maciej won 1st Prize and a special award at the Lutoslawski International Cello Competition. He was a Laureate in the Finals of the 2017 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and was selected for representation by Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) in 2019.
As a soloist Maciej has appeared with the National Philharmony Warsaw, Baltic Philharmony, Sinfonia Cracovia, Sinfonia Iuventus, London Mozart Players, the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Brussels Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Symphony, Calgary Symphony and Aukso: Chamber Orchestra of Tychy, among many others.
Recitals and chamber music have taken him across Europe and further afield, including the Piatigorsky Cello Festival in Los Angeles, Beijing Cello Festival, the Penderecki, Lutoslawski, Moritzburg, Kronberg, Krzyzowa Music, Hohenstaufen and Munich Rising Stars Festivals.
He has collaborated with Krzysztof Penderecki, Emanuel Ax, Christoph Eschenbach, Viviane Hagner, Charles Neidich, Arnold Steinhardt, Jan Vogler, Lawrence Power, Kian Soltani and worked with conductors Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Frank Braley and Stéphane Denève, Marek Moś in a wide range of repertoire.
Other highlights include the premiere of a new work especially written for him by Tadeusz Kassak with the Kassak Brass Ensemble and a residency at the Ozawa International Academy in Switzerland. As a member of the Wilkormirski Trio, he has given concerts throughout Poland and recorded music by Arensky for the DUX label.
Maciej studies with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt at the Kronberg Academy. In 2016 he received a scholarship and special prize from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben at the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb, and in 2015 won 2nd Prize at the TONALI Competition in Hamburg (2015).
Maciej previously studied with Marcin Zdunik at the Stanislaw Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk, Mannheim University and the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar. He has taken part in masterclasses with Sir Andras Schiff, Gidon Kremer, Steven Isserlis, Frans Helmerson, Mischa Maisky, Truls Mørk, Gary Hoffman, Phillippe Muller, Jens Peter Maintz, Ivan Monighetti and Andrzej Bauer.
Maciej is playing a Thorsten Theis cello from 2014.

Monika Gardoń-Preinl (piano)
Dr hab. Monika Gardoń-Preinl, prof. AMKP began her musical education at the age of four. In 1991 she graduated from the Academy of Music in Krakow, where she studied with Prof. Stefan Wojtas. She participated and became a laureate of several competitions, first as a pupil and later as a student (including an award of the Stendhall Foundation Competition, Chopin Competitions in Darmstadt and Gottingen), as well as masterclasses for young pianists (with Rudolf Kehrer in Weimar and Rudolf Buchbinder in Zurich). She gave concerts in Poland and abroad (including performances of piano concertos with orchestra). After graduation she began her professional career at the Academy of Music in Krakow, where she presently is an associate professor at the Chamber Music Department, as well as at the State Secondary School of Music where she holds a post of a certified teacher. In 2013 she became a Habilitated Doctor of Musical Arts. She is both an active performer and a teacher, taking part in concerts, masterclasses, auditions and competitions. She has received several awards and distinctions for an outstanding accompaniment. Monika Gardoń-Preinl is a laureate of state distinctions for her contribution to the development of art. She performs with soloists both in Poland and abroad, constantly broadening her chamber music repertoire.

Julia Kociuban (piano)
JULIA KOCIUBAN is considered as one of the leading polish pianists of her generation. Her debut solo album “Schumann, Chopin, Bacewicz” was praised by critics as one of the most interesting Polish piano debut of the past years, and last CD with Bacewicz and Tansman Piano Concertos was nominated for the Polish Music Industry Prize “Fryderyk”.
This young artist has already been invited to perform in renowned European concert halls including the Herkulessall in Munich, the Konzerthaus of Vienna and of Berlin and the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg. She has also performed in America and Asia and at the most known international music festivals in the world including La Rouge d’Antheron, La Folle Journee, Kissinger Sommer, The Young Euro Classic Piano Festival, The Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival.
Julia Kociuban performs regularly solo recitals, in chamber music and as soloist with renowned orchestras (including Wiener Symphoniker, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg). She has collaborated with such great conductors as Howard Griffiths, Hans Graf, Nemme Järvi, Kristjan Järvi, Lahav Shani, Heribert Beissel, Aziz Shokhakimov, Ken-David Masur, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Antoni Wit, Marek Pijarowski among others. She has recorded for many European radio and television stations as well as for the international labels such as Sony Classical, Gramola and Polish DUX.
Julia Kociuban graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg where she studied with prof. Piotr Paleczny and Prof. Pavel Gililov. In 2019 she received her doctoral degree in music, and a year later she completed postgraduate studies for cultural managers at the Warsaw School of Economics. Currently as a holder of the Royal College of Music scholarship she completes her Artist Diploma studies in the class of Prof. Dmitri Alexeev. Alongside her solo career Julia Kociuban teaches at the Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź (Poland). She is also a founder and director of BISMA Bacewicz International Summer Music Academy.
Organized with the support of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.










