Pawel Kozak – Polish-born violinist, and winner of the 1998 Southwest Young Artist Competition held in Las Cruces (New Mexico), Pawel Kozak is a Lecturer in Music at Augusta University, where he directs the university orchestra and teaches courses in music literature, music theory, and applied violin/viola. Prior to his appointment at AU, he taught violin and viola at both Lander University and Presbyterian College. In addition to maintaining a busy teaching schedule, Kozak serves as the principal second violinist and personnel manager with the Augusta Symphony and performs regularly as a member of the Lyra Vivace Chamber Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, and San Francisco, and can be heard as a section violinist in ARCO Chamber Orchestra’s numerous recordings and as a soloist in Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins. Kozak received his MM and DMA degrees from the University of Georgia, where he studied violin with Professor Levon Ambartsumian and viola with Dr. Mark Neumann.
Marcin Sikorski – pianist from Bytom. In his hometown, he learned to play the piano in the class of B. Scigała, MA at the State Music School. F. Chopin, which he graduated with honors in 1990. He is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Katowice, where he studied piano under the supervision of prof. M. SikorskaWojtacha and prof. M. Kubień-Uszok, and graduated with honors from the chamber music and accompaniment class of prof. M. Szwajger-Kułakowska. He expanded his knowledge and improved his piano and chamber skills during master classes at Carnegie Hall in New York, Lucerne, Alkmaar, Sermonet, Duszniki, Łańcut, working under the supervision of I. Stern, H. Meyer (LaSalle Quartet), L. Fleisher, B. Canino, E. Ax, Wu Han, R. Bakst, A. Steinhardt and M. Tree (Guarneri Quartet), S. Rhodes and J. Krosnick (Juilliard Quartet), P. Setzer and D. Finckel (Emerson String Quartet), S. Tenenbom and T. Eddy (Orion String Quartet), Ch. Treger, E. Frieser, T. Bollen, A. Orłowiecki, W. Obidowicz, P. Urstein, A. Tatarski. He devoted his life to chamber music. His musical partners are: Soyoung Yoon, Bartłomiej Nizioł, Alena Baeva, Veriko Tchumburidze, Soo Been Lee, Reiko Otani, Erin Keefe, Haik Kazazyan, Mei Diyang, Teng Li, Jarosław Bręk, Katarzyna Polonek, Agata Szymczewska, Anna Maria Staśkiewicz, Rafał Kwiatkowski, Silesian Quartet, Akademos Quartet, Radosław Pujanek, Katarzyna Budnik, Robert Kwiatkowski, Celina Kotz, Anna Malesza, Robert Łaguniak. For several years he has been performing in a piano duet with Małgorzata Sajna Mataczyńska. His artistic activity is met with favorable response from music critics: “a phenomenal musician”, “a seasoned chamber musician”, “his interpretations are lively, juicy, carefully constructed, but with flair.” After his performance at the Fryderyk Award gala in the NOSPR hall in Katowice, it was written: “The pianist – Marcin Sikorski, impressed with his creativity – as always – but also with his openness and courage.” He has performed in 18 countries around the world, including: at such prestigious festivals as: Chopinowski in Duszniki (in 2012, 2014 and 2019), Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival (2007 and 2012), International Conservatoire Week in St. Petersburg, Osorske Glazbene Večeri in Croatia, Grieg in Bergen in Norway, Amber & Silk Festival in Beijing. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, the Conservatory in St. Petersburg, the Royal Castle and the Studio. W. Lutosławski in Warsaw, at the National Philharmonic, in both halls of the NOSPR in Katowice, and at the NFM in Wrocław. As a soloist, he performed with orchestras conducted by: L. Foster, M. Caldi, M. J. Błaszczyk, T. Wojciechowski, A. Affeltowicz, J. Rogala, Ł. Baszczyk. He was the official pianist of famous violin competitions: H. Wieniawski in Poznań (1996, 2001, 2006, 2011), J. Joachim in Hanover (2006), B. Britten in London (2008), K. Szymanowski in Łódź (2009), K. Szymanowski Competition in Katowice (2018), Violin Competition in Toruń (2007, 2010, 2013). He recorded piano quartets by Schumann and Brahms on CDs with the Brahms Piano Quartet, which includes K. Polonek – concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic, cellist K. Polonek and violist M. Micker. With Małgorzata Sajna-Mataczyńska he recorded Paderewski’s Tatra Album. With the violinist Anna Maria Staśkiewicz, he recorded sonatas by Schnittke and Prokofiev and Subito by Lutosławski. With the AKADEMOS quartet, piano quintets by Shostakovich and Schnittke. Together with his brother Bartosz, double bassist of the Wiener Philharmoniker (and visual artist), transcriptions of violin sonatas by Franck and Ravel. He recorded sonatas by R. Strauss and D. Shostakovich with J. Haufa. Recordings of several dozen chamber music works with his participation appear on over 30 CDs. He has recorded many times for Polish Radio and Polish TV and regional stations, as well as for radio stations in Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Slovakia. Since 2020, he has been working as a professor at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, where he teaches a chamber music class, accompaniment classes and accompanies violin students. In the years 1996-2020 he was associated with the Academy of Music in Poznań. He started cooperation with the university on the initiative of the legend of Polish violin music – prof. Jadwiga Kaliszewska, whose close collaborator he became for many years. In 1999, he obtained a doctoral degree there, and in 2015, a habilitated doctor. For his activities on behalf of this university, he received Rector’s Awards in 2003, 2015 and 2018. Since 2013, he has been cooperating with the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing as a teacher and juror. He conducts courses in chamber music and solo playing at music universities and music schools. He was a juror at international chamber music competitions in Beijing and Łódź. For his artistic and teaching activities, he was awarded the Bronze Cross of Merit, the badge of Merit for Polish Culture, the Young Positivist Medal, the Bronze Medal for Long-Term Service and the Bronze Medal.
