The ARTISTS of the festival
Piazzoforte
Kevin Kenner (USA) - piano
“He is a mystic. ... He comes to us with a message which he reads as a verse from the Bible ... Kenner achieves the highest level of transcendence” So the words of one amongst a veritable army of critics whose praise pitches Kenner as one of the giants of the pianistic world. Kevin Kenner was the winner in 1990 of the nternational Chopin Competition in Warsaw and of the Bronze Medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. He records regularly for the BBC in England, where he now lives.At the age of 17, American pianist Kevin Kenner participated in the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw and was awarded the 10th prize and a special prize from the jury for his promising talent. Ten years later, in 1990 he returned to Warsaw to win the top prize, the Pe- ople's Prize and the Polonaise Prize. Earlier that year he won the bronze medal at the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, together with a special prize for his interpretation of Russian music. Other awards include the International Terence Judd Award (London, 1990), the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (Fort Worth, 1989) and the Gina Bachauer International Competition (Salt Lake City, 1988). Kevin Kenner has since performed as soloist with worldclass orchestras including the Hallé Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Brussels, the NHK Symphony of Japan, and in the US with the principal orchestras of San Francisco, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, New Jersey, Rochester, Baltimore, St. Paul and many others. He has been invited to work with many renowned conductors, including the late Sir Charles Groves, Andrew Davis, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Jiri Belohlavek and Kazimierz Kord to name but a few.
Grzegorz Frankowski (Poland) - double bass
graduated with honours from Academy of Music in Krakow,Poland where he studied double bass under the supervision of Czeslaw Zabek. He participated in music workshops in Gingen, Chodzież and Krakow. Later he became a student of Michael Wolf. He has been playing chambemusic in the Capella Cracoviensis ensemble for many years. His versatility of interests has led to cooperating with renowned performers of various musical genres and styles: chamber music with Jadwiga Kotnowska, Leszek Potasinski and Waldemar Gromolak; cross-over repertoire blending tango, jazz and classical music with Waldemar Malicki and Vadim Brodski; and Latin music with Beatris Blanco and Jose Torres. Tango is his greatest passion. He has been recording and performing Astor Piazzolla's 'tango nuevo' since 1990. The starting point was his cooperation with Argentinean pianist Adrian Kreda in the Quarteto Polaco ensemble. Later he established his own 'Trio Revirado'. Currently he performs with accordionist Jarosław Bester as well as bandoneonist Wiesław Prządka. Trio Revirado's concerts were nominated for 'Parada 2001', a poll by the national newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza for the most outstanding cultural event of 2001. He has performed as soloist and in ensembles at major Polish festivals: the Music Festival in Lancut, the National Concert Hall Summer Festival, the All-Star Festival in Miedzyzdroje, Music in Old Cracow, the Bravo Maestro Series in Tarnow, the Virtuosity and Musical Joke Festival in Nowy Sącz, as well as many other national and international events. Mr. Frankowski has initiated numerous musical projects involving eminent Polish musicians. At present he is recording Astor Piazzolla's tangos inchamber music ensembles whose members specialize in this kind of music: Trio Revirado, Waldemar Malicki & the Tango Bridge Quintet and the Piazzoforte Project with pianist Kevin Kenner. He has recently set up a School of Tango in Krakow run with the help of instructors from the Argentine Tango Academy in Warsaw. It is with this association that he has been working on a project called Pomost Tanga (Tango Bridge), bringing together musicians, dancers, and actors from Poland, Germany, and Argentina.
Maciej Lulek (Poland) - violin
Violinist Maciej Lulek was born in Lublin, Poland in 1977. He graduated with honours from the Academy of Music in Krakow in the class of Professor Teresa Glabowna and has additional worked with other renowned teachers such as M. Jaszwila, Z. E. Zienkowski, and W. Kwaony. In 2001 he was awarded the 2nd prize at the V International Penderecki Competition of Contemporary Chamber Music. As a soloist he has appeared with various symphony orchestras in Polish music festivals in Lodz, Sadomierz, Tarnobrzeg and Torun
Paweł Wajrak (Poland) - violin
Concertmaster of The Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra.
As a soloist and chamber musician he is carrying out many projects, performances, recordings and concerts, reaching out both to ancient music (historically conscious performance) and contemporary ones (Flamenco,Tango Nuevo). He contributes to Piazzoforte Ensemble string quintet and New Tango Bridge group.
"Frederick" Award winner in 2006 for the record of Astor Piazzola compositions: Piazzoforte, prepared along with Kevin Kenner.
He is cooperating with Sinfonietta Cracovia, Sinfonia Varsovia and Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Cracow ("Piazzolla Tango" performance). His special love for Tango Nuevo resulted in long-term cooperation with precursors of this style in Poland: Grzegorz Frankowski and Waldemar Malicki, with whom he co-creates "Tango Bridge," founded on the Astor Piazzola original model of "Quinteto Nuevo Tango".
Ryszard Sneka (Poland) - viola
Violist Ryszard Sneka completed his studies at the Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland in 1995 in the cIass of Professor Dariusz Korcza. He aIso participated in summer courses in Lancut, Poland and Blankenburg, Germany. In 1993 he became a musician of the Mahler Youth Orchestra. In the years 1994-5 he was a member of the Pacitic Music Festival Academy in Sapporo, Japan. From 1993 to 1995 he was a member ofthe Silesian Chamber Orchestra of Katowice, and since 1995 he has been working with the Sinfonietta Cracovia.