dr hab. Zbigniew Pilch, prof. AMKP – baroque violin – HEAD
Zbigniew Pilch is one of Europe’s most outstanding baroque violinists, an artist of broad interests in the whole of instrumental music from the 16th to the 21st century, with particular emphasis on the violin virtuoso idiom. He plays both contemporary and baroque violin, viola and viola d’amore. Pilch performs as a soloist, chamber musician and conductor.
Zbigniew Pilch graduated from the Instrumental Faculty of the Academy of Music in Krakow, where he was mentored by Zbigniew Szlezer. Simultaneously, he was specializing in playing the baroque violin under the direction of Zygmunt Kaczmarski.
Pilch worked with almost all existing early music ensembles in Poland, and for many years was a member of the Sinfonietta Cracovia orchestra. At present, the artist performs throughout Europe and other continents with such excellent ensembles as Battalia (Finland), Concerto Copenhagen (Denmark), Al Ayre Español (Spain), Musica Florea (Czech Republic), or Collegium Vocale Gent (Belgium).
Zbigniew Pilch has been the concertmaster for the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra from the group’s very debut. As an instrumental soloist he cooperates with many other ensembles, such as the Warsaw Chamber Opera and the New Chamber Orchestra, whereas in his work as a conductor he collaborates with Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra, Elbląg Chamber Orchestra, Lower Silesia Philharmonic Orchestra, Gdynia Chamber Orchestra ‘Sinfonia Nordica’, to name a few.
Furthermore, Zbigniew Pilch boasts an extensive and varied tutoring career – he teaches baroque violin and viola at the Academy of Music in Krakow. Pilch is also one of the tutors conducting master classes at the cyclical International Summer Academy of Early Music in Lidzbark Warmiński.
Zbigniew Pilch was the first in Poland to perform Vivaldi’s, Locatelli’s, Haydn’s and Janiewicz’s virtuoso concertos on baroque violin. The musician is also actively recording: in 2007 he released an album containing the virtuoso violin concertos by Feliks Janiewicz, which were recorded by Pilch in collaboration with Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense’s Early Instruments’ Ensemble of the Warsaw Chamber Opera and conducted by Kai Baumann (PMC 057). In 2009 the artist released another album, this time includingSymphonies No. 103 and 104 by Joseph Haydn, performed by the Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Zbigniew Pilch (DUX 0751). Together with the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra, Pilch recorded Symphony No. 6, 7, 8 by Joseph Haydn (ACD 167) andSymphonies, an album presenting compositions of Koželuh, Reicha and Voríšek (ACD 148). The latter record was granted with a Fryderyk Award in 2011.