Joanna Kurkowicz
violin
Praised in Gramophone magazine for "disciplined
virtuosity," violinist Joanna Kurkowicz enjoys an active
and versatile career as an award-winning soloist, recitalist,
chamber musician and concertmistress. She has performed on
many of the great concert stages of the world, including Weill
Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, Boston and the
Grosse Saal, Salzburg, and has appeared as a soloist with
the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Metamorphosen Chamber
Orchestra, the Jefferson Symphony, the San Luis Obispo Symphony,
the New England String Ensemble, the Berkshire Symphony, the
Poznan Philharmonic, the Polish National Radio Orchestra in
Katowice and others. She has received awards from the Samuel
Chester, Presser, Saint Botolph, Kosciuszko, and Olevsky Foundations,
the Harvard Musical Association, the Irving McKlein International
Competition, the Carmel and Coleman Chamber Music Competitions,
and in Poland, the Henryk Wieniawski and Tadeusz Wronski International
Competitions. She was recently recipient of the New England
Conservatory Outstanding Alumni Award.
Ms. Kurkowicz currently serves as concertmistress of the
Boston Philharmonic and the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra,
and previously held the same post for the Boston Modern Orchestra
Project and the Vermont Symphony. She was a member of the
acclaimed Metamorphosen and Orpheus Chamber Orchestras. Since
the fall of 2002 she has been Artist in Residence at Williams
College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, recently joined the
faculty at Tufts University, and serves on the faculty of
the Northeastern University Fusion Arts Exchange Program.
An avid and sought-after chamber musician, she has collaborated
with such eminent artists as Jaime Laredo, Charles Treger,
Laurence Lesser and James Buswell. She is a founding member
and Artistic Advisor of the Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston
and the Plymouth Chamber Music Festival. As a guest artist,
she has participated in the Mozarteum Festival in Salzburg,
the Ravinia Festival, Barge Concert Series (NY), the Asia
Pacific Festival in Wellington, New Zealand, the Rockport
Chamber Music Festival, the EuroSilesia International Music
Festival and the Martha's Vineyard Chamber Music Society.
Ms. Kurkowicz is a strong advocate of contemporary music;
she has premiered works by Gunther Schuller, Ralph Shapey,
Poul Ruders, David Kechley and Grazyna Bacewicz. Her most
recent world premiere of Shirish Korde's Violin Concerto with
the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra met with enthusiastic
response. Subsequent performances in Europe and New Zealand
were equally well-received, and the United States premiere
with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra was a highlight of
the 2007-2008 concert season.
Her recent solo CD featuring music of Grazyna Bacewicz, released
on Chandos Records, was praised in Fanfare magazine
as a "spectacular release" and in International
Record Review for "passion, authority and sheer élan,"
and received equally enthusiastic reviews in the Strad
magazine, American Record Guide, and Muzyka21.
Her Bridge Records release featuring music of Alfred Schnittke
was noted in the Strad for "strong impact…
her playing holds one enthralled, demonstrating strong personality
and assured technique," and was chosen by the Boston
Herald as "Best of Year 2001." Ms. Kurkowicz
can also be heard on the Centaur, CRI, Capstone, Albany, New
World Records, Neuma and Archetype labels. Her Boston premiere
of sonatas by Rebecca Clarke was listed in the Boston Globe
"Best Concerts of 2000."
A native of Lublin, Poland, Joanna Kurkowicz earned a Master
of Music Degree with distinction from the Paderewski Conservatory
of Music in Poznan, Poland, in the studio of Jadwiga Kaliszewska.
She came to the United States in 1992 to complete a second
Master of Music degree as a student and teaching assistant
of Charles Treger at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Ms. Kurkowicz completed the prestigious Artist Diploma Program
at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied
with Masuko Ushioda. Joanna Kurkowicz plays on a Petrus Guarnerius
violin dated from 1699.
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