Jaga Klimaszewska & Mateusz Rettner
Biography Jaga Klimaszewska & Mateusz Rettner
Jaga Klimaszewska
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. She received the RCM Award and GD Fahrenheit Educational Scholarship awarded by the Mayor of Gdansk.
In June 2016 she won the 3rd prize in the 'Citta di Padova' International Competition in Padova, Italy.
Jaga has taken part in many Workshops and Music Festivals in Europe. Joanna 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.
Jaga worked with many well known artist including Maxim Vengerov, Leonid Kerbel, Peter Schuhmayer, Vasko Vassilev, Peter Herresthal, David Takeno, Carole Presland, Belcea Quartet, The Gould Piano Trio, Heath Quartet.
As well as her versatile music career Jaga also enjoys organising events. Together with her friend Romana Szczepaniak she started the st Johns Music Concert Series in Kensal Green, west London. She is also a part of the unconducted chamber orchestra Silk Street Sinfonia which she manages and performs with.
Mateusz Rettner
Pianist and composer Mateusz Rettner is currently enrolled at the Royal College of Music, London where he is studying for a Master’s degree as an RCM Award Holder supported by a Jenny Marsh Chapman Memorial Award.
Mateusz previously studied Piano and Composition at the Music Academy, Lodz as well as Musicology at the University of Warsaw. His most recent successes include receiving the Mercers’ Arts Award as well as 1st prize in the Collaborative Piano category of the Brooks-van der Pump English Song Competition.
Mateusz Rettner has recently appeared in such prestigious venues as: St. John’s Smith Square (Principal Sound Festival), Ambika P3 (London Contemporary Music Festival), St. George’s Hannover Square (series of solo recitals), St. Mary Abbots, St. Steven’s Gloucester Road as well as the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall and Recital Hall of the Royal College of Music. Mateusz has made his concerto debut with the Lodz Philharmonic Orchestra in 2015. Other notable appearances include recitals across the UK, Germany and Poland in venues including the Chopin Museum Concert Hall in Warsaw, Gdansk Music Academy Concert Hall and the Stuttgart Fruchtkasten Museum.
His repertoire is very broad, encompassing works from the standard repertoire alongside lesser known pieces. In his recitals he often includes new works, many of them written especially for him and dedicated to him, e.g. ‘Suita’ by Beniamin Baczewski. An active chamber musician, Mateusz founded a piano quartet during his studies in Lodz and together they performed with great acclaim across Poland. He often performs in Germany and the UK in a duo with the cellist Joanna Gutowska, a student at the Royal Academy of Music. Together they are planning a recording of pieces written especially for them.
He has also commissioned seventeen works for his La Tache Ensemble, some of which have been premiered in London in 2016 and 2017. Recent highlights include participation in the performance of P. Boulez’s seminal ‘sur Incises’ in October 2016 as well as collaboration with Michael Finnissy in November 2016 in preparation of his solo and chamber works for a tribute concert during the composer’s residency at the RCM.
