Maria Sławek & Marcin Zdunik
Biography Maria Sławek & Marcin Zdunik
Maria Sławek
Soloist and chamber musician, she performs pieces from various periods, from Baroque to contemporary music – Mieczysław Weinberg’s works occupy a special place in her repertoire. She has appeared in numerous cities across Poland, Germany, Israel, Great Britain, Brazil, Belgium, Italy, France, Ukraine, and the US. In the concert season 2017/2018, Maria Sławek was an artist-in-residence of the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Cracow.
Maria Sławek has been performing in a duet with pianist Piotr Różański since 2007. In 2012, the duo released their debut album with sonatas by Schumann and Prokofiev, published by the “Castello” Creative Group. Three years later, the artists recorded another album with works for violin and piano by Mieczysław Weinberg. The CD was released by the CD Accord Music Edition, under the auspices of Polish Radio 2. The album received favorable reviews in both Polish and foreign press (e.g. The Strad magazine).
In 2009, along with Anna Maria Staśkiewicz, Katarzyna Budnik, Artur Rozmysłowicz, Marcin Zdunik, and Rafał Kwiatkowski, she has founded a unique chamber music ensemble – a string sextet. Recordings with her participation have been repeatedly broadcast by Polish Radio.
In 2007, the violinist received the maestro Jerzy Katlewicz Award for outstanding students of the Cracow Academy of Music. In 2010, 2013 and 2018 she was awarded with scholarships from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (the “Young Poland” scholarship, among others. In 2011, she received Creative Scholarship from the Mayor of the city of Cracow, and she was also among the winners of the Solti Foundation Award.
Maria Sławek is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Cracow, where she has been working at the Violin and Viola Department since 2011, currently as Assistant Professor. She studied with outstanding musicians – Wiesław Kwaśny and Dora Schwarzberg (in Vienna), and perfected her skills with artists such as Kaja Danczowska, Maxim Vengerov and Wanda Wiłkomirska. In 2019, she earned a post-graduate degree in Polish-Jewish Studies at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.
Maria Sławek plays the Charles François Gand violin from the Nicolas Lupot studio (Paris 1817).
Marcin Zdunik
the first prize and Grand Prix winner at the 6th Lutoslawski International Cello Competition in Warsaw (Poland) - was born on December 5th, 1987 in Warszawa, Poland.
He started his cello education in 1994 at the Moniuszko School of Music in Warsaw with professor Maria Walasek and continued it under supervision of professor Andrzej Orkisz.
In 2011 he finished his studies with Andrzej Bauer at Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw being awarded Magna cum Laude Medal. He was also a Guest Student at the Leopold Mozart Zentrum (Augsburg University) in a class of Julius Berger.
Marcin Zdunik performs in many European countries, the USA and Korea. He frequently presents his own compositions and arrangements for cello and chamber ensembles. He has co-operated with many renowned ensambles e.g. the Prague Chamber Orchestra, St. Petersburg Camerata, The European Union Chamber Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Wratislavia Chamber Orchestra and reputable musicians as Urszula Kryger, Julius Berger, Krzysztof Jakowicz, Nelson Goerner, Krzysztof Jabłoński, Jose Gallardo, Andrzej Bauer and Jan Stanienda. He performed with Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet and Tatjana Grindenko at the Festival Chamber Music Connects the World organized by Kronberg Academy.
He has performed as a soloist at many renowned concert halls, e.g. the Rudolfinum in Prague, Carnegie Hall in New York, Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, the Hermitage Theatre in St. Petersburg, Konzerthaus Dortmund (Philharmonie für Westfalen), the Slovak Philharmonic in Bratislava, the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, the W. Lutoslawski S1 Concert Studio of Polish Radio.
He has appeared at a number of festivals, e.g. the Musical Olympus Festival in Saint Petersburg, Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus, Chamber Music Connects the World Festival in Kronberg, Musica Polonica Nova in Wroclaw, Autunno Musicale Caserta, Lago Maggiore Musica, Meklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, Asiago Festival, Bratislava Music Festival, Wartburg Festival and Chamber Music Festival "Arsenal Nights" in Wroclaw.
In 2007 Marcin Zdunik won the first prize at the VI Lutoslawski International Cello Competition in Warsaw (Poland). He was also awarded the Grand Prix for an outstanding performance of Lutoslawski's Cello Concerto and received nine other prizes.
In 2008 he represented the Polish Radio in Bratislava (Slovakia) at The International Forum of Young Performers (IFYP) organized by the European Broadcasting Union where he won the 2008 New Talent title.
Marcin Zdunik was the 3rd prize winner of the 40th Instrumental Wettbewerb, Markneukirchen, 2005.
In 2010 he got Polish TV Culture Award, Gwarancje Kultury and Fryderyk Music Award 2010 for the album: Haydn,Denisov "Cello Concertos".
He was awarded the Pro Arte scholarship at the festival "Week of Talents" in Tarnow, Poland (2004) and the prize of the International Summer Academy of Universitat Mozarteum Salzburg (2006). He holds a scholarship of Pro Polonia Society and Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund.
He has four times been a fellow of the Artistic Scholarship founded by the Polish Ministry of Culture.
