Maciej Kułakowski

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 András 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.