pietrzakjar@gmail.com

                                      julitapn@tlen.pl

Since 2010, Jarosław Pietrzak has been performing with the pianist Julita Przybylska-Nowak. One of the first duo concerts was in 2010, at the Righteous Among the Nations medal award ceremony, which is held by the Yad Vashem Institute. Since its establishment, the duo has made numerous first world and Polish recordings.

The pianist Julita Przybylska-Nowak and the violinist Jarosław Pietrzak have performed together at many music festivals in Poland. Those include the Felix Mendelssohn Music Days in Cracow, the Simcha Festival in Wrocław, Singer’s Warsaw Festival, the Felix Mendelssohn Festival at Duszniki-Zdrój, the Mazel Tov Festival, the Henryk Wieniawski International Festival at Szczawno-Zdrój, and the May with Early Music Festival. The duo have presented works by Polish composers of Jewish descent at the Jewish Community Center in Warsaw, the Jewish Historical Institute and during events as part of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Jarosław Pietrzak is a professor of the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, where he has taught the violin since 1994, and has been the Head of the Chair of String Instruments since 2016. Under his supervision, Christoph Polonek, the leader of the Berlin Philharmonic (Berliner Philharmoniker), and Tomasz Tomaszewski, a professor at Universität der Künste in Berlin, obtained their Doctor of Music degrees.

For his artistic and teaching achievements, Jarosław Pietrzak has been awarded the Bronze Cross of Merit (2012) and the Silver Cross of Merit (2018).

Jarosław Pietrzak also frequently performs as a soloist or a chamber musician. He has given concerts in Germany, the UK, France, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Turkey, South Korea, Argentina, Brazil and the USA. He has played in numerous prestigious concert halls, including Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Spivey Hall in Atlanta, City Hall in Glasgow, Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, National Forum of Music in Wrocław, and the Royal Castle in Warsaw.

On many occasions he has performed at the Musique et Amitie Festival in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, as well as at various festivals in Poland, such as Forum Musicum, Arsenal Nights, Warsaw Music Encounters, Musica Polonica Nova, Musica Electronica Nova, May with Early Music, the Henryk Wieniawski International Festival at Szczawno-Zdrój.

Among Jarosław Pietrzak’s artistic interests is contemporary and baroque music. His output includes the CD entitled ‘Polish Violin Duos’ (DUX, 2002), recorded with the violinist Bartłomiej Nizioł, which features works written by contemporary Polish composers. The CD was nominated for Fryderyk – a prestigious Polish music award. He has also recorded concertos by baroque composers, with the trumpet player Igor Cecocho as a soloist, conducting the Wrocław Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra as its leader (DUX, 2010).

JAROSŁAW PIETRZAK

violin

The pianist has also performed in duo with harpsichord player Aleksandra Rupocińska, violinist Ebru Karaagac, cellist Izzet Naziliak, and Ilya Grubert, who won the International Violin Competitions in Moscow and Genua and is in possession of Henryk Wieniawski’s last violin.

Julita Przybylska-Nowak’s activities also include teaching. In May 2006, she was elected member of the Management Board of the European Piano Teachers Association Poland. In 2003, she conducted a chamber music course at the National University of Music in Budapest, and in 2015 – at Haccettepe Universitesi in Ankara.

She is regularly invited to conduct professional development courses for piano teachers, workshops for students and teachers of schools of music, and to judge competitions for your pianists (including international events). She is permanently connected with the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, where she received the academic degree of Doctor of Art in 2012, and that of Doctor Habilitatus four years later, i.e. in 2016.

Having been invited to the World Euro Gate Exhibition in Taipei, she gave a series of recitals in the capital of Taiwan. She also performed at the World Expo 2000 in Hanover, where she presented Polish music. In 2002, she gave the premiere performance (and subsequently made a recording) of the last sonatas by Wrocław-based composer Ryszard Bukowski. As a soloist, she has cooperated with many orchestras, including ones under the baton of Jacek Mirosław Błaszczyk, Marzena Diakun, Anna Duczmal-Mróz, Mieczysław Gawroński, Robert Kabara, Klemens Kamiński, Agnieszka Nagórka, Marek Pijarowski, Wojciech Rodek, Jacek Rogala and Marek Tracz.

A special place among Julita Przybylska-Nowak’s soloist performance-related interests is occupied by the Style Brillante, which she has also been searching for in chamber music. She has played chamber music in Italy, the Czech Republic, Romania and Turkey. Since 2010, she has performed with violinist Jarosław Pietrzak as part of the ensemble Art Chamber Duo. The cooperation has resulted in recording three albums with both world premieres of forgotten works, and compositions in the Grand Duo style. Numerous DVDs and TV concert recordings document the artist’s performances at festivals and major cultural events, including the May with Old Music Festival, the International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition, Singer’s Warsaw Jewish Culture Festival, the International Mendelssohn Festival, the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The duo have performed in Poland (including at the Warsaw Philharmonic concert hall, the Philharmonic concert halls in Katowice, Łódź and Cracow, the National Forum of Music in Wrocław) and abroad.

An inhabitant of the city of Wrocław, a pianist, soloist and chamber musician.

She graduated from the Karol Szymanowski Senior Secondary School of Music in Wrocław with distinction, under Prof. Janina Butor. She went on to study at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice under Prof. Czesław Stańczyk. During that time, she worked with many outstanding tutors, including Prof. Maria Szwajger-Kułakowska, who introduced her to the world of chamber music, or Prof. Józef Stompel, under whom she began her post-graduate programme. She completed it in the Master Piano Class under Prof. Włodzimierz Obidowicz. She perfected her skills at master courses held by many eminent pianists, including such legendary figures as Halina Czerny-Stefańska, Edith Picht-Axenfeld or Tadeusz Kerner. She participated in performance and teaching courses on old and contemporary music.

The beginnings of Julita Przybylska-Nowak’s career as a pianist were connected with the music by F. Chopin. She took part in numerous competitions both at home and abroad (Göttingen, Darmstadt, Marianske Lazne), received scholarships of the Fryderyk Chopin Society in Warsaw, and gave concerts at places particularly closely connected with the composer (Żelazowa Wola, Duszniki Zdrój), which attests to the pianist’s artistic bond with the repertoire of the biggest Romantic.

JULITA PRZYBYLSKA - NOWAK

piano