“… a dazzling violinist..” in the words of Herman Trotter (High Fidelity Magazine)

Master Class, Minturno, Italy 14-18 July 2009  – registration up to 15 May2009 

Veronica Schreiber Kadlubkiewicz graduated with highest honors of the Warsaw Academy of Music in Poland and continued her studies in the USA with Henryk Szeryng, Roman Totenberg and Paul Zukofsky. Finalist of the Alberto Curci Competition in Naples, Italy, she received a special award from the Rockefeller Competition for Excellence in American Music in Washington D.C. Ms. Kadlubkiewicz has appeared as soloist with orchestras in the USA, Poland, Italy and Spain. She has also frequently performed at such festivals as Marlboro Music, Bach Aria Festival, Monadnock Music, Estatedi Radicondoli, Musica Electronica Nova and Warsaw Autumn Festival. An avid performer of solo violin recitals sought out for her interpretations of contemporary music, each year she premieres new compositions written for her. She was a participant in the Sommerkurs fur Neue Musik in Darmstadt and a member of Creative Associates in Buffalo, NY.
Formerly concertmaster of the Polish Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria and the New Hampshire Symphony, Veronica Kadlubkiewicz has also played with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the New England Camerata. She taught violin and chamber music at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Smith College and Amherst College.
Ms. Kadlubkiewicz now resides in Paris, France where she has appeared at Salle Cortot; Ecole Normale Supérieure, rue d’Ulm; St. Julien le Pauvre; and Eglise de Trinité among others. Last season she performed in Italy, the USA, Poland, France and premiered compositions by Francois Nicolas, Salvatore Macchia and Beatriz Ferreyra, all written for her. The season 08/09 will see her giving many “all Bach” presentations of his solo violin works, the Concerto by Philip Glass as well as piano-violin recitals.
Ms. Kadlubkiewicz has recorded for Gasparo and CRI labels, Polish Radio, and WDR in Germany.

Concert pianist, professor of piano, juror of piano competitions. Throughout her life music has been the central focus and inspiration. Conveying its inherent contents and emotions she considers her life mission fulfilled by performing and teaching. Maria Szraiber is also interested in various questions concerning both the composer’s work and its interpretation potential in the field of the piano literature as well as in the history of piano playing. She also devotes some of her time to the matters of the teaching process organization at the different levels of music education.

Born in Silesia Maria Szraiber there began the piano education leading her to the graduation from the Music Academy in Katowice.

Her teachers were: Wanda Chmielowska, heir of the famous piano school of T. Leschetizky and Bolesław Woytowicz, heir of the pure F. Chopin tradition, through Karol Mikuli, F. Chopin’s pupil. Maria Szraiber’s piano studies were completed at the famed P. Tchaykowsky Conservatory in Moscow where she worked under the guidance of Tatiana Nikolajeva and Rudolf Kerer, both well known representatives of the Russian school of piano playing.

Maria Szraiber has performed in concert halls throughout Poland and most of Europe, as well as in the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Australia.
She has made many recordings. Playing the wide repertoire she is particularly associated with the music of Chopin and Debussy as well as with many works from the rich Polish piano  literature. Some of her concerts have been enriched by her own comments.

Maria Szraiber often gives concerts in the places connected with Fryderyk Chopin, like Żelazowa Wola, the place of his birth, under the composer’s monument in the Łazienki Park in Warsaw and others.
In addition to performing Maria Szraiber loves to teach. She is a full professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw where she was also elected dean of the Department of Piano, Harpsichord and Organ and was as well head of the Piano Chair.

For many years Maria Szraiber has been conducting master classes and giving lectures in Poland and abroad. She has sat on the jury of a number of piano competitions. In line with her interest in the history of piano playing she has been presenting a series of concert-lectures and reminiscences entitled “Nestors of Polish Piano Pianistics”. As a result of the series a two volume publication appeared under the same title including biographies and reminiscences devoted to Zbigniew Drzewiecki, Jerzy Lefeld, Aleksander Michałowski, Stanisław Szpinalski, Józef Śmidowicz, Margerita Trombini-Kazuro, Józef Turczyński, Maria Wiłkomirska and Jerzy Żurawlew. The book, published also in English, is accompanied by CDs with the recordings of the presented pianists.

Maria Szraiber’s  interest in teaching led her to prepare a large monograph On Educating the Artist-Performer at the College Level of Piano Studies (AMFC, Research Bulletin no. 44, Warsaw, 1999).
Studying and interpreting the literature for the piano as well as artistic activities of great composers are sources of inspiration for her writings and lectures. Here are a few examples:

• The Waltz. The Road to Artistic Stylisation in the Work of F. Chopin – an article contributed to “Fuga” (2001 no. 4),
• C. Debussy – composer of piano music and pianist (Gdańsk Music Academy, Research Bulletin “Piano Music”, Gdańsk 2004);
• Polish Piano Playing Tradition. The Leschetizky heritage in the rich history of Polish XXth century pianistics and piano pedagogy (Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Wien 2006);
• T.Leschetizky – great teacher of pianists (Gdańsk Music Academy, Research Bulletin “Piano Music”, Gdańsk 2007);
• lectures and comprehensive talks accompanying specially profiled concerts, e.g.:

• o F. Chopin’s waltzes – The peak achievement of artistic stylisation of dance;
• o Polish pianists of international renown at the turn of the XXth century;
• o Polish piano music in the Chopin circle (1999);
• o Edward Grieg – composer, pianist, conductor (1997);
• o Grażyna Bacewicz – the universal musician.

Maria Szraiber has always been deeply concerned about the organization of music education at all levels. During her long term as dean she launched various initiatives in the search for the optimal syllabus for music universities. She also serves as an expert advisor for the Ministry of National Education.

“Of all my students, Magda plays in the most beautiful way…” – that is how Tadeusz Wroński, a longtime professor of the Academy of Music in Warsaw, one of the greatest and most versatile of Polish teachers of the art of violin playing, used to say about Magdalena Rezler-Niesiołowska. The artist proved that opinion was justified by winning a number of such reputable international violin competitions as Queen Elisabeth of Belgium in Brussels, Jacque Thibaud in Paris or Karl Flesch in London. She also won medals at the Biennale in Bordeaux and, together with her string quartet, in Budapest.

Born in Bydgoszcz, in a known family of musicians, she graduated from the Academy with honors, being a student of Professor Wroński and of closely cooperating with him Stanisław Kawalla. As a soloist, she takes part in symphony and chamber concerts and performs recitals in almost all European countries, but also in the USA, Mongolia and South Korea. Her performance was often recorded for the radio and television in Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, West Germany, Belgium and France. Her repertoire includes over 30 concertos with orchestra and 20 recitals. She was a concertmistress of the “National Philharmonic Chamber Musicians” orchestra of Karol Teutsch, performing many solo concertos with it; currently she also takes part in chamber concertos in Germany and Switzerland, cooperating with excellent instrumentalists, such as “Freiburger Barock Solisten.”

Magdalena Rezler-Niesiołowska, following the steps of her professors, is an excellent educator – for many years she led a violin class in her home Warsaw university, and since 1991 she has been a professor in the renown Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg (Germany). Her graduates are members of symphony orchestras in Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Bremen, Hamburg, Detmold, Freiburg, Warsaw, Budapest, Zurich, Istanbul, Seoul, Tokyo and of the International Mahler Orchestra. She conducts master courses in Germany, Poland, South Korea, Japan, Austria and the USA. She is a jury member of violin competitions in Poland and abroad.

Her latest CD “Con bravura e sentimento” with Polish virtuoso music for solo violin, recorded with her husband, a well known conductor Maciej Niesiołowski, gained wide attention and admiration. Wanda Wiłkomirska wrote about it in the letter to performers: “…congratulations both for the idea and for performance….Magda’s performance is unusually delightful…You play Wieniawski Polonaise better than all the candidates for the Wieniawski Competition put together…Scherzo-Tarantella sounds perfect, but to be effective it must be played with such rhythmic precision and such fantastic accompaniment as you do…”

For the last few years (2005-2007) Magdalena Rezler-Niesiołowska has performed mainly in Germany – a lot of recitals of diverse scope, such as a solo recital (with sonatas of Bach, Bartók, Bacewiczówna, Ysaÿe and Meyer), all Beethoven’s sonatas, recitals of Polish music and other. Moreover, together with recognized artists, she took part in many concerts of chamber music with orchestras in Poland, Switzerland and Germany. Recently, with “Capella Bydgostiensis,” she performed Mozart concertos in Germany. With the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, she played a violin concerto of Krzysztof Meyer and with Juliusz Berger – concerto for violin and violoncello of the same composer.

Andrea Passigli studied in Italy and in the United States. He graduated cum laude from the Conservatory L. Cherubini in Florence under the guidance of Maria Tipo and participated in the Marlboro Music Festival at the invitation of Rudolf Serkin, whose teaching had a fundamental role in his musical development, which is mainly directed towards Viennese classicism. Important points of reference in his education where also his meetings since childhood with Pablo Casals, Nikita Magaloff.. Mr. Passigli, who has constant interest for chamber music and Lied, has performed in recitals and concertos in Italy, U.S.A, Austria, England, Holland, Russia, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Poland. He has recorded an album of 2CD with music for piano solo by Schubert, edited by fonè, a CD dedicated to Lieder on texts by Heine with the baritone Leonardo Wolovsky, and one on French impressionism with flutist Alexander Duisberg edited by Ema Records. He is Professor of Piano at the Conservatory G. Frescobaldi in Ferrara.

Jerzy Maciejewski began to study piano at the age of five and continued very extensive music education until he became a student at The Fryderyk Chopin Warsaw Academy of Music. He received master’s degree in piano as a student of  Maria Wilkomirska.  Jerzy Maciejewski is currently the Professor at The Warsaw Academy of Music in Warsaw and Visiting Professor Kaemyung – Chopin Academy in Daegu (South Korea). Every year he is being invited to give workshops and seminars at the Master’s Training Programs in Poland and abroad, for instance at The Wiener Musik Seminars in Vienna, Austria. He is also participating in a special music events for children and young audience organized by National Philharmonics in Poland.

His artistic career was launched when he was still a student at The Academy of Music. Being a member of The Fryderyk Chopin’s Society in Poland, he gave a number of piano concerts. As a talented pianist he was granted multiple scholarships from The Fryderyk Chopin’s Society.

During his artistic career Jerzy Maciejewski cooperated very closely with The Fryderyk Chopin’s Society of Warsaw. During that time he gave a number of recitals in places where Fryderyk Chopin was born and lived. The examples of concerts in such places are: Chopin Family’s house in Żelazowa Wola where Chopin was born,  and concerts at the Chopin’s Monument at Łazienki Park in Warsaw. The pianist participated in many prestigious piano festivals, e.g. in Duszniki and Słupsk, Poland. He was invited to participate in philharmonic performances in Poland and most of the European countries as well as in South Korea and Mexico. During the last few years he performed a wide variety of classical and contemporary music; for example music by George Crumb and Stanisław Moryto.

Jerzy Maciejewski  performed many of original works of contemporary composers as solo concerts as well as with chamber, and philharmonic orchestras.

Within the several years, an artist was particularly interested in working with chamber groups, and outstanding polish musicians. Together they gave many chamber performances in Poland and abroad.  Jerzy Maciejewski is the creator of The Ignacy Jan Paderewski’s Piano Trio Group and co-creator of The Camerata Vistula Chamber Music Group in Poland.

An artist recorded complete works of Karol Szymanowski for violin and piano together with violinist Magdalena Rezler, as well as songs of  Fr. Chopin and I. J. Paderewski sung by Ewa Izykowska.

He is also known as an interpreter of music for two pianos and drums by Bela Bartok and George Crumb in cooperation with Stanisław Skoczynski.

On average he performs about 60 concerts per year, solo or with other artists and/or orchestras.