Gdańsk Music Festival 2025

Michel Dalberto

Michel Dalberto first came to prominence when, between 1975 and 1978, he won the 1^st Mozart Competition in Salzburg, the Clara Haskil Prize and 1^st Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition.

Born in Paris in a non-musical family which take roots in Dauphiné and Italian Piemonte, he began the piano at the age of three and a half and gave his first concert at five and a half. When he was twelve, he was introduced to Vlado Perlemuter, a favourite pupil of the late Alfred Cortot, and entered his class at the Paris Conservatoire where he completed his studies during nine years. Another influent teacher was Jean Hubeau in the chamber music field.

He has performed under the baton of some of the most distinguished conductors including Sawallisch, Colin Davis, Temirkanov, Masur, Gatti or Gardiner. He has been guest of Festivals such as Lucerne, Florence, Aix-en-Provence, Vienna, Edinburgh, Schleswig-Holstein and is a regular visitor of Asian countries including Japan, Chinaand Korea. 

An outstanding chamber musician since his beginning, he played the ten Beethoven Sonatas with the late Henryk Szeryng and two-pianos recitals with the late Nikita Magaloff. More recently he appeared in Trio with Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Lynn Harrell or with Renaud and Gautier Capuçon. Among his partners were Vadim Repin, Nikolaj Znaider, Renaud Capuçon, Yuri Bashmet, Truls Mork, Emmanuel Pahud,Paul Meyer, Modigliani and Ebène Quartets as well as sopranos Barbara Hendricks, Jessye Norman, Ildiko Raimondi and baritone Stephan Genz. From the beginning of his career, Michel Dalberto has been acknowledged as one of the foremost interpreter of Schubert and Mozart music. Liszt, Debussy, Fauré, Schumann and Ravel are also among his favorite composers. He is the only living pianist to have recorded the complete piano works by Schubert. Latest releases include the Fauré complete chamber music with Renaud & Gautier Capuçon and the Ebene Quartet for Virgin Classics and Schubert cycle “Winterreise” with Stephan Genz for Swiss editor La Dogana.

After having served as Chairman of the Jury of the Clara Haskil Competition (Switzerland) between 1991 and 2009, he has become a member of the organization committee.
He has given regular masterclasses at Imola Accademia Pianistica as well as at Hannover Hochschule, Manchester Royal College, Seoul University or Tokyo Toho University. Since September 2011 he has been appointed Professor at the Paris Conservatoire. 

A keen amateur of gastronomy, he enjoys skiing in Savoy and Switzerland, is an expert in scuba-diving and a devoted fan of Formula 1.

He has been awarded the Knight of the “Ordre National du Mérite” by the French Government in 1996.

Maxim Emelyanychev

  Andrej Grilc

Principal Conductor, Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Chief Conductor, Il Pomo d’Oro
Principal Guest Conductor, Stockholm Radio Symphony Orchestra, from 2025/26

The 2016/17 season featured a major international tour with Il Pomo d’Oro Orchestra and Joyce DiDonato, his debut at the Opernhaus Zürich in Mozart Entführung aus dem Serail and debut at the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, where he has been a regular guest since then. In 2017/18 in addition to his fourth visit to both the Toulouse National and the Real Orquesta Sinfonica de Sevilla, Maxim made his debut with the following orchestras: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Orchestre National de Belgique, Orchestre National de Bordeaux and the Saint-Petersburg Symphony.

An invitation to conduct the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in Schubert Symphony no.9 on a last-minute replacement led the enthused musicians to appoint him their new Principal Conductor, effective from the 2019/20 season.

In the 2018/19 season Emelyanychev’s debuts include the Antwerpen Symphony, Netherlands Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen and the Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Maxim also took Il Pomo d’Oro on a three weeks tour in Asia and the Middle East with Joyce DiDonato. In November 2019, on the very first concert of his mandate as their Principal Conductor, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra extended his contract until 2025.

An additional extension until 2028 has since been confirmed. Emelyanychev also conducted the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at two of the major international opera institutions: the Glyndebourne Festival (Handel Rinaldo, with Jakub Orlinski in the title role) and the Royal Opera House (Handel Agrippina, with Joyce DiDonato in the title role).  Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Other engagements included the following debuts: Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria and Seattle Symphony for his US debut.

In August 2021 Maxim and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra were invited to participate to the BBC Proms and to the Edinburgh International Festival, to which they returned in 2022.

In 2021/22 Maxim and Il Pomo d’Oro, together with Joyce DiDonato went on three different concert tours, in Europe and the USA, in Haendel Theodora.

Maxim has recorded several CDs for Warner Classics/Erato at the head of Il Pomo d’Oro, among which a Haydn symphonies and concertos album with Ricardo Minasi and In War and Peace, Harmony through music with Joyce DiDonato, CD which won the Gramophone Award 2017. For Warner Classics he has also recorded two CD with counter-tenor Jakub Orlinski : Face d’Amore and Anima Sacra and Haendel Agrippina, with Joyce DiDonato in the title role, record which won the Gramophone Classical music Award 2020 – Category Opera.

Vilde Frang

In 2012 Vilde Frang was unanimously awarded the Credit Suisse Young Artists Award which led to her debut with the Wiener Philharmoniker under Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival. Her profound musicianship and exceptional lyricism have elevated her as one of the foremost violinists of her generation. She continues to appear regularly with the world’s leading orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Concertgbouw OrchestraSymphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, London Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Budapest Festival Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra. She has enjoyed collaborations with conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Bernard Haitink, Herbert Blomstedt, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mariss Jansons, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Ivan Fischer, Maxim Emelyanychev, Jakub Hrůša, Vladimir Jurowski, Manfred Honeck, Teodor Currentzis, Daniel Harding, Antonio Pappano, Lahav Shani, Paavo Järvi and Yuri Temirkanov. 

Highlights of the current season include her return to the Berliner Philharmoniker with Kirill Petrenko, plus her muchanticipated debut with Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Vilde also embarks on international tours with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra with Makela, London Symphony Orchestra with Pappano, Deutsche Symphony Orchestra Berlin with Ticciati, Münchner Philharmoniker with Grazintye-Tyla and the London Philharmonic Orchestra with Vladimir Jurowski. She also embarks on  a Bach cycle with the Basel Kammerorchester. A keen and prominent chamber musician, Vilde regularly appears at the Lucerne Festival, BBC Proms in London, festivals in Verbier, Lockenhaus, George Enescu Festival, Salzburg Festival and the Prague Spring Music Festival. She also appears regularly in recital at Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein, Philharmonie Berlin, Tonhalle Zurich and the Bozar in Brussels, as well in North America as part of the Vancouver Recital Series, Boston Celebrity Series and San Francisco Performances. Vilde returns to the Wigmore Hall as Artist in Residence where she joins forces with early music ensemble, Arcangelo, and later in the season performs chamber music with close collaborators, Lawrence Power, Valeriy Sokolov, Denis Kozhukhin and Maximillian Hornung.  

Vilde Frang is an exclusive Warner Classics artist and her recordings have received numerous awards, including the Edison Klassiek Award, “Diapason d’Or” by Diapason Magazine, Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Grand Prix du Disque and two Gramophone Awards.

Born in Norway, Vilde was engaged by Mariss Jansons at the age of twelve to debut with Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. She studied at Barratt Due Musikkinstitutt in Oslo, with Kolja Blacher at Musikhochschule Hamburg and Ana Humachenco at the Kronberg Academy.

Vilde performs on a 1734 Guarneri del Gesu, generously loaned to her by a European benefactor.

Alexander Gadjiev

  Wojciech Grzędzinski 

Alexander Gadjiev - winner of second prize and the Krystian Zimerman sonata prize in the 18th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.

He grew up in a musical environment: both his parents are piano teachers and musicians; his hometown of Gorizia in Slovenia, a melting-pot of cultures, peoples and languages, defined his cultural identity, openness and ability to forge individual interpretations of musical works of different styles and epochs. He was taught by his father, an excellent Russian pedagogue. He first performed with orchestra at the age of nine, and gave his first recital a year later.

He gained his diploma with the highest distinction at the age of 17, which enabled him to take part in the Premio Venezia competition, the 30th edition of which he won. He has also won first prize in several prestigious piano competitions: the 9th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition (2015), World Piano Masters in Monte Carlo (2018) and Sydney International Piano Competition (2021). He was a BBC New Generation Artist in 2019–2021, which gave him the chance to record in London studios and perform at major British festivals and prestigious halls, working with various British orchestras.

Over the last few years, Gadjiev has performed at festivals in Verbier, Ljubljana, Bologna and Aldeburgh, La Folle Journee in Tokyo, Mariinsky International Piano Festival in St Petersburg, MiTo in Turin, Chopin Festival in Duszniki- Zdroj, ClaviCologne in Dusseldorf, Piano Festival Rafael Orozco in Cordoba, Settimane Musicali in Vicenza, Festival Animato de Paris and Salzburg Chamber Music Festival, and also at the Wigmore Hall in London, Teatro La Fenice, Kioi Hall and Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, Kitara Concert Hall in Sapporo, Hyogo Performing Arts Centre in Osaka, Salle Cortot in Paris and Moscow Conservatory, as well as in Salt Lake City, Istanbul, Barcelona, Rome and Milan. His forthcoming plans include performances in Poland, the UK, the Netherlands and Italy, as well as a tour of Japan and Australia.

Lorenz Karls

  Łukasz Ulanowski

Born in the cultural heart of Vienna to an Austrian-Swedish family, Lorenz Karls began his journey with the violin at the tender age of four. His early passion and dedication have led him to the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, where he continues to refine his artistry.

Karls’s recent solo performances have garnered acclaim, with standout concerts at the Mozartwoche Salzburg in the Great Hall of the Mozarteum Foundation. He has also graced the stages with prestigious orchestras such as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, WDR Funkhausorchester, Lithuanian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Bern, Odense Symfonieorkester, Kremerata Baltica, Orchestre Philharmonique du Maroc, Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. 

His exceptional talent has been recognized through numerous prizes at competitions, including the first prize at the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition, Ruggiero Ricci Violin Competition, Arthur Grumiaux Competition, Jaroslav Kocian Violin Competition, and Antonio Vivaldi Competition. He also secured the second prize at the Andrea Postacchini International  Violin Competition. Winner of the 2^nd  prize at the 6th International Karol Lipiński Violin Competition (2024) in Toruń.

Lorenz Karls plays the distinguished G.B. Guadagnini “ex-Bachmann” violin, generously lent to him by the Stephan and Viktoria Schmidheiny Foundation, and a specially crafted 2023 violin by Philipp Augustin.

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 eminent 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 representatives 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.

Ewa Leszczyńska

  Maciej Grzybowski

Ewa Leszczyńska is a graduate of the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk, Poland, where she studied the piano with Professor Jerzy Sulikowski, and Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, Italy, where he was a student of Professor Margareth Hayward. 

As a pianist, she has workd with such singers as Ewa Marciniec, Davide Fior, Katarzyna Trylnik, Łukasz Hajduczenia, and Gianluca Buratto, with whom she has won a Rotary award in Milan. The artist has participated in master classes lead by Jerzy Artysz, P. Gould, Dalton Baldwin, Katarzyna Jankowska, Krystyna Borucińska, Maja Nosowska, Jerzy Marchwiński, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Izabella Kłosińska, Larisa Giergieva, Teresa Berganza, Urszula Kryger, C. Lehman, Jadwiga Rappé, Anna Radziejewska, Olga Pasichnyk, Ewa Podleś, Thomas Quasthoff, Hartmut Höll, D. York, Karl Kammerlander, and David Dolan. 

Since 2012 Ms Leszczyńska has been coached by Professor Jerzy Artysz. From 2007 to 2010 she was a member of Laboratorio Interdisciplinare di Musica e Spettacolo (Limes) in Milan, where she performed in a number of opera and theatre productions. As a singer, she won First Prize in the 2012 Giosuè Carducci Competition in Madesimo together with pianist Tomasz Pawłowski. She also reached the semifinals of the competition as a pianist. 

In 2015 Ewa Leszczyńska sang the solo parts in the world premiere of the opera Der 13 Sternbilder aus dem Wallis staged by Stefan Grögler in Switzerland, while in 2016 and 2017 she was Mirteo in Leonard Vinci's Semiramide riconosciuta in Warsaw. She also took part in Dunkle Zeiten Wien shown in Vienna's Off Theater. She works wih such baroque music ensembles as: Les Roses Souvages, Arte dei Suonatori, Musica Florea, Royal Baroque Ensemble, Baroque Collegim 1685, Il Falcone, and Zespół Muzyki Dawnej Diletto. She has performed at such festivals as: 200 Bach Cantatas for the University of Warsaw's 200th Anniversary, Bach Days in Kraków, Poland; Świętokrzyskie Music Days in Kielce, Poland; Chopin in Autumn Colours in Antonin, Poland; Jerzy Waldorf Summer Festival in Radziejowice, Poland; Dramma Per Musica in Warsaw, and Venice Easter Festival in Hamburg. 

Ewa Leszczyńska is a member of the Multi Trio ensemble, whom she joined for a tour of the USA in 2016. Together with pianist Tobias Koch she performed at the Chopin and His Europe festival in Warsaw in 2017. A year later she sang at the 73rd International Chopin Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. Since 2017 the artist has been giving lieder recitals accompanying herself on the piano. In 2018 she performed as Giunone in Marco Vitale's Il ratio di Helena in Vilnus as part of the festival Il Banchetto Musicale. A year later she sang Ericlea opposite Sara Mingardo in Monteverdi's Il ritorno d’ Ulisse in patria with Europa Galante under Fabio Biondi at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. She works with such pianists as Tobias Koch, Ewa Pobłocka, Janusz Olejniczak, Bartłomiej Wezner, Paweł Sommer, Tomasz Pawłowski, and Anastasia Levandovskaia.

Jan Łukaszewski

© Grzegorz Mehring

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.

Thomas Sanderling

Thomas Sanderling grew up in St. Petersburg, where his father, the celebrated conductor Kurt Sanderling, was permanent conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. He graduated from the Music School of the Leningrad Conservatory and went on to study conducting at the Hochschule für Musik in East Berlin, becoming Music Director of the Halle Opera at 24 years old. By his mid-twenties he was conducting in all East Germany's principal orchestras and opera houses, including the Dresden Staatskapelle and the Leipzig Gewandhaus and won the Berlin Critic's Prize for his opera performances at the Komische Oper Berlin. He worked as assistant to both Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein. In the early 1980s he became permanent guest conductor of the Deutsche Staatsoper Unter Den Linden, which led to his successful debut at the Wiener Staatsoper, conducting Die Zauberflöte. Immediately afterwards the Wiener Staatsoper invited him to conduct Le Nozze di Figaro - the first performance after the death of the great Karl Böhm. He has won many prizes and a competition and is particularly renowned for the German, Russian and English orchestral repertory.

Having attended Sanderling's Moscow debut, Shostakovitch asked the conductor to conduct the German first performance of his Symphonies No. 13 and 14. Sanderling's premiere CD recordings of Shostakovitch's Song Cycles for Orchestra on Deutsche Grammophon was selected as The Editor's Choice by the renowned British music magazine Gramophone. In May 2013 Thomas Sanderling conducted the world premiere of the last opera by Mieczysław Weinberg, The Idiot after the novel by Dostoyevsky, at Nationaltheater Mannheim.

Among the orchestras he has conducted are: BBC Scottish, Baltimore Symphony, Bayerische Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester, Dresden Staatskapelle, Dresden Philharmonic, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Halle Orchestra UK, Helsinki Philharmonic, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, London Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, NDR Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Radio Philharmonic Hilversum, Royal Stockholm. St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Tchaikovsky Radio Symphony Moscow, Vancouver Symphony, WDR Symphony Cologne, Sydney Symphony, Novosibirsk Philharmonic.

He is Music Director Laureate of Osaka Symphony, which awarded him the title of Music Director Laureate for his Lifetime. With this Orchestra he won the Grand Prix of the Osaka Critics twice in three years.

From 2017 to 2022, Thomas Sanderling has been the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor at the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra, the position he gave up in a protest against Russian aggression in Ukraine

Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Sopot

  K. Karpati & D. Darewicz

 The Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Sopot was established in 1982 on the initiative of Wojciech Rajski. Since 2024, its director has been Szymon Morus. Its core consists of string instruments (19 musicians), but it also performs in extended composition, i.e. with wind instruments. It made its debut in June 1982 in Gdynia under the name the Wojciech Rajski Chamber Orchestra; just a few days later, it inaugurated the Schleissheimer Sommer festival in Munich and the 37th Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker festival. In 1987, the ensemble went on a concert tour of the United States of America (33 concerts), where it played in, among others, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It has also performed twice in China (1990, 2016), in Japan (1997) as well as in Mexico and the Canary Islands.

Since the beginning of its activities, the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Sopot has been a regular guest at renowned European festivals, including the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Prague Spring or La Chaise-Dieu. The Orchestra has performed many times at the Music Festival in Łańcut and at the Warsaw Philharmonic. In addition, it has had the opportunity to play in prestigious concert halls (e.g. Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Musikhalle in Hamburg, Salle Pleyel in Paris or the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna) and has been often accompanied by the most outstanding soloists, such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Natalia Gutman, Sabine and Wolfgang Meyer, Mischa Maisky, Raphael Oleg, Gary Karr, Ivo Pogorelić, Aleksandra Kurzak, Roberto Alagna, Piotr Beczała, Rolando Villazón and many others. The ensemble’s concerts as part of a concert tour of Germany (2014) with world-renowned pianist Krystian Zimerman received excellent reviews in the local press.

The Orchestra has over 60 albums to its credit released by distinguished record labels, including Sony Classical, EMI, Tacet, Thorofon, Sonomaster, Opus, CD ACCORD or DUX. In 2015, after 8 years of work, the Orchestra completed recording all nine symphonies by L. van Beethoven for the TACET label.

Since 2011, the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Sopot has been organizing the Sopot Classic International Music Festival, which, on an annual basis, is a highlight of the Tricity’s summer cultural offer. The artistic director of the festival is Szymon Morus.

The Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Sopot, operating within the structures of the Baltic Art Agency BART, is a cultural institution of the City of Sopot and of the Local Government of the Pomeranian Voivodeship.

Compass Trio

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

  Christoper Bowen

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) is one of Scotland’s five National Performing Companies and has been a galvanizing force in Scotland’s music scene since its inception in 1974. The SCO believes that access to world-class music is not a luxury but something that everyone should have the opportunity to participate in, helping individuals and communities everywhere to thrive. Funded by the Scottish Government, City of Edinburgh Council and a community of philanthropic supporters, the SCO has an international reputation for exceptional, idiomatic performances: from mainstream classical music to newly commissioned works, each year its wide-ranging programme of work is presented across the length and breadth of Scotland, overseas and increasingly online.

Equally at home on and off the concert stage, each one of the SCO’s highly talented and creative musicians and staff is passionate about transforming and enhancing lives through the power of music. The SCO’s Creative Learning programme engages people of all ages and backgrounds with a diverse range of projects, concerts, participatory workshops and resources. The SCO’s current five-year Residency in Edinburgh’s Craigmillar builds on the area’s extraordinary history of Community Arts, connecting the local community with a national cultural resource.

An exciting new chapter for the SCO began in September 2019 with the arrival of dynamic young conductor Maxim Emelyanychev as the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor. His tenure has recently been extended until 2028. The SCO and Emelyanychev released their first album together (Linn Records) in November 2019 to widespread critical acclaim. Their second recording together, of Mendelssohn symphonies, was released in November 2023. Their latest recording, of Schubert Symphonies Nos 5 and 8, was released on 1 November.

The SCO also has long-standing associations with many eminent guest conductors and directors including Principal Guest Conductor Andrew Manze, Pekka Kuusisto, François Leleux, Nicola Benedetti, Isabelle van Keulen, Anthony Marwood, Richard Egarr, Mark Wigglesworth, Lorenza Borrani and Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen.

The Orchestra’s current Associate Composer is Jay Capperauld. The SCO enjoys close relationships with numerous leading composers and has commissioned around 200 new works, including pieces by Sir James MacMillan, Anna Clyne, Sally Beamish, Martin Suckling, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Karin Rehnqvist, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Nico Muhly and the late Peter Maxwell Davies.

Kevin Chen

Since starting his piano studies at age five, Kevin Chen has been recognized for his achievements from his earliest years in the musical world, placing first in the Canadian Music Competition when he was eight. Now 18, his consecutive first-place wins in distinguished international competitions have earned him widespread acclaim, including first prize in the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv, Israel (2023); first prize in the Concours de Genève (November 2022); first prize in the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Budapest, Hungary (September 2021); first prize in the Hilton Head International Piano Competition in Hilton Head, United States (March 2020); and first prize in the International Piano-e-Competition in Minneapolis, United States (July 2019).

Kevin has been performing regularly with orchestras since his debut with the Abbotsford Youth Orchestra at the age of seven. These include the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Hungarian National Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Israel Camerata, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, and others.

Kevin currently studies privately with Professor Marilyn Engle. As a composer in his spare time, Kevin’s successes in this regard are reflected in commissions and public performances. Five of his works have been published. Outside of music, he enjoys computer programming and solving Rubik’s cubes.

Piotr Pawlak

A Polish pianist, soloist and chamber musician, winner of the 5th Maja Lind International Piano Competition in Helsinki (2022) and the 11th Darmstadt International Chopin Competition (2017), and also a laureate of Chopin competitions in Beijing (2016) and Budapest (2018), as well as the 1st International Competition of Polish Music in Rzeszów (2019). In 2023, he was the winner of the international Chopin Competition for period instruments

He has performed in the US, Russia, China, Georgia and many countries of Europe, and also appeared with many Polish and foreign orchestras, including the Warsaw, Baltic and West Bohemian philharmonic orchestras, Ningbo Symphony Orchestra, Polish Chamber Philharmonic Sopot and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2021 he made his debut at the legendary Teatro alla Scala in Milan. He took part in the 17th (2015) and 18th (2021) International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.

In 2014 he received a Krystian Zimerman scholarship. In 2021 he graduated with distinction from Waldemar Wojtal’s class at the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk.

He is also studying conducting, organ and improvisation, and he holds a Master’s in Mathematics.

Art'n'Voices

  Łucja Stefaniuk

Art'n'Voices is a remarkable ensemble, with flexible voices, wonderful musicianship, creative programming, and a real sense of how to communicate their love of ensemble singing to their audiences, specialist or otherwise!
Simon Carrington, The King's Singers

Art'n'Voices is most definitely an outstanding group of high-class vocalists and sensitive, hardworking artists.
prof. Paweł Łukaszewski, composer

Your CD is stunning! Great music, beautifully performed.
Philip Lawson, The King's Singers

 The Polish vocal ensemble Art'n'Voices aims to define the future of a cappella music by exploring its deepest emotions and inspiring listeners of all generations with the highest quality sound. It consists of eight young vocalists associated with the musical stages of northern Poland, who are the rising stars of the Polish vocal scene.The group has built a vast repertory of contemporary pieces that feature intricate vocal arrangements tailored exclusively for them. They frequently explore alternative and improvised musical styles. Nevertheless, the cornerstone of every Art'n'Voices performance is music composed by its members.

Art'n'Voices was awarded multiple times at national and international competitions. Its achievements feature 10 Grand Prix prizes, including at the 11th International Choir Festival Mundus Cantat in Sopot (2015) or the National Contemporary Choral Music Festival Music Everywhere (Gdańsk 2014). The ensemble was also successful at prestigious competitions within the network of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing: Polifonico Guido di Arezzo in Italy (2017) and Tolosako Abesbatza Lehiaketa in Spain (2019). Their latest triumph was winning the esteemed International 'a cappella' Contest Leipzig in May 2023.

So far, Art'n'Voices has taken part in recording ten CDs, three of which were albums released by the ensemble. In 2021, the Polish Phonographic Academy honored Art'n'Voices with the Frederic Award (also known as the Polish Grammy) for the album Midnight Stories in the category: A lbum of the Year - Contemporary Music. Art 'n'Voices is the first a cappella octet to receive this distinction. This is the most prestigious award in the Polish Music Industry.

Art'n'Voices has performed in numerous esteemed concert halls including the Philharmonics of Warsaw, Gdańsk, Kashubia, Kielce, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Teatro Petrarca, Théâtre Michel Portal Bayonne, and many more. They have also collaborated with world-class artists such as Leszek Możdżer and some of the best orchestras in Poland.

The group supports the community by organizing the ArteFonie Festival, which takes place every September in Wejherowo, Poland. The festival's goal is to discover the most innovative classical musicians and juxtapose their work with various genres of music as well as photography, graphics, painting and other forms of artistic expression.

 Members of the group :

 sopranos:

• Małgorzata Priebe
• Maria Krueger-Milej

 altos:

• Anna Rocławska-Musiałczyk
• Marta Jundziłł

tenors:

• Mateusz Warkusz
• Szymon Duraj

basses:

• Tomasz Chyła
• Rafał Brzeziński

Tomasz Januchta

Tomasz Januchta - double bassist of the Polish National Opera Orchestra.

From 2005 to 2021, he was a musician with the Warsaw Philharmonic. Winner of national double bass competitions.

He graduated from the University of Music in Warsaw. He is active as a teacher.

As a chamber musician, he has performed at most major classical music festivals in Poland. He has composed music for film and theater.

As an improvising musician, he performs solo and collaborates with avant-garde Warsaw ensembles such as STOP, INLY TOUCH, and USTA.

In 2021, as part of a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, he recorded and published online the complete Bach Cello Suites arranged for double bass by T. Pelczar.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Szymon Morus

  K. Kacperski

 Artistic Director of the Sopot Classic International Music Festival. A conductor who earned a reputation for not shying away from performing the most demanding masterpieces. Morus feels perfectly at ease with all musical genres. Since the beginning of January 2024, he has been holding the position of the Artistic Director at the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Sopot. Szymon Morus promotes the most recent music through numerous premieres and partners with Polish composers of the young generation. He also brings to life innovative educational projects for the youngest enthusiasts of classical music. He is the founder and the Artistic Director of the Progress Chamber Orchestra, with whom he has been regularly performing since 2009, partnering with guests performers with broad artistic perspectives.

Morus had his debut at the stage of The National Philharmonic in Warsaw during The Krzysztof Penderecki Festival on the occasion of Penderecki’s 85th birthday in 2018. In March 2016, Morus assumed the musical direction of the premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki’s The Black Mask in The Baltic Opera in Gdańsk, which was presented to the Tri-City audience with a spectacular success and appreciated even more by the Warsaw audience of The Grand Theatre – The Polish National Opera (April 2016). Morus entered into a longer partnership with The Baltic Opera and directed other productions including The Final Judgment by Krzysztof Knittel, The Haunted Manor by Stanisław Moniuszko, and The Nutcracker by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Since the beginning of 2021/2022 season, he has been holding the position of the first guest conductor at the Wojciech Kilar Polish Philharmonic Sinfonia Baltica in Słupsk. He cooperates with most of the philharmonic orchestras in the country. Among them: The Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, The Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra, The Cracow Philharmonic, The Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra or The Baltic Philharmonic.

Among the most eminent soloists performing under his lead were Pierre Génisson, Massimo Mercelli, Miroslava Yordanova, Alexander Krichel, Olga Pasiecznik, Robert Gierlach Jakub Jakowicz and Leszek Możdżer.

Morus was recognized for his accomplishments with the Pomeranian Artistic Award in 2016. He is the President of The Pomeranian Association Musica Giovane, whose goal is to partner with cultural institutions, ensembles, and individual artists in an effort to collaborate on creation of joint projects which combine music with poetry, theatre, and visual arts.

Morus graduated from the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk where he was awarded the Doctor of Fine Arts title in the field of conducting. Since October 2013, he has been affiliated with his Alma Mater where he serves as a lecturer at the Faculty of Conducting, Composition and Theory of Music.