Konstanty Andrzej Kulka

Konstanty Andrzej Kulka


He is an outstanding artist, virtuoso, the most admired polish violinist in the world for the last decades. Phenomenal music sensitivity and virtuosity constantly gives him appreciation of the critics and admiration of the audience.

Violinist, with origins in Gdańsk. He started to learn to play violin when he was eight from Stefan Herman and continued his education with the same pedagouge in State Music High School and State Higher Music School in Gdańsk (diploma with distinction in 1971).

As a seventeen year old he received distinction at the International Niccolo Paganini Violin Competition in Genova, however, it was the International Radio Competition ARD in Munich at which he took the first prize, that brought him fame. From this very moment his worldwide career begun.

From 1966 he performed on the whole globe (in every country of Europe, United States, South America, Australia and Japan). Konstanty Andrzej Kulka is one of the most prominent artists of his generation. As a soloist he was a guest of many renowned orchestras (Berliner Philharmoniker, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Leningrad Philharmonic), he took part in many prestigious music festivals e.g. in Lucern, Bordeaux, Berlin, Prague, Barcelona.

Special place in the violinist artistic tournées has the performances with National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra with which in 1971 he made the longest voyage - in countries of Africa, Asia and in Australia. Since 1968 Konstanty Andrzej Kulka played in duo with Jerzy Marchwiński. He played also chamber music as a member of Polish Radio and Television Piano Quartet (Together with Stefan Kamasa, Roman Jabłoński and Jerzy Marchwiński).

The artist has on his account numerous recordings for Polish Radio and Television and for Polish Recordings. Among his CD recordings highly appreciated were Antonio Vivaldi´s Four Seasons with Karol Teutsch Chamber Orchestra, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy´s and Alexander Głazunov´s Violin Concerts with National Philharmonics Orchestra under the direction of Jerzy Katlewicz, Violin Concerto D-major by Johannes Brahms with National Philharmonics Orchestra under the baton of Witold Rowicki, and Johann Sebastian Bach´s Sonatas for Violin Solo. Konstanty A. Kulka records also for foreign radios and CD companies. His recording of Karol Szymanowski II Violin Concerto for EMI was in 1981 awarded with Grand Prix du Disque.

In the artist´s huge repertoire very important place is reserved for contemporary music. He is an outstanding interpreter of compositions written by Witold Lutosławski, Krzysztof Penderecki (e.g. Violin Concerto, which he performed many times with different orchestras under the composer´s baton), Henryk Hubertus Jabłoński, Augustyn Bloch, Eugeniusz Knapik.