dr hab. Maria Sławek
Soloist and chamber musician, she performs pieces from various periods, from Baroque to contemporary music – Mieczysław Weinberg’s works occupy a special place in her repertoire. She has appeared in numerous cities across Poland, Germany, Israel, Great Britain, Brazil, Belgium, Italy, France, Ukraine, and the US. In the concert season 2017/2018, Maria Sławek was an artist-in-residence of the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Cracow.
Maria Sławek has been performing in a duet with pianist Piotr Różański since 2007.
In 2012, the duo released their debut album with sonatas by Schumann and Prokofiev, published by the “Castello” Creative Group. Three years later, the artists recorded another album with works for violin and piano by Mieczysław Weinberg. The CD was released by the CD Accord Music Edition, under the auspices of Polish Radio 2. The album received favorable reviews in both Polish and foreign press (e.g. The Strad magazine).
Her most recent recording, available both as a CD and LP – ‘Rejoice’ recorded alongside one of the best Polish cellists, Marcin Zdunik, includes works by J.S.Bach (Two-part Inventions in their own arrangement), E. Ysaÿe (Sonata No. 2 for violin solo), K. Penderecki (Ciaccona in memoriam Giovanni Paolo Secondo) and S. Gubaidulina (Sonata ‘Rejoice’ for violin and cello).
In 2009, along with Anna Maria Staśkiewicz, Katarzyna Budnik, Artur Rozmysłowicz, Marcin Zdunik, and Rafał Kwiatkowski, she has founded a unique chamber music ensemble – a string sextet. Recordings with her participation have been repeatedly broadcast by Polish Radio.
In 2010, 2013 and 2018 she was awarded with scholarships from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (the “Young Poland” scholarship, among others). In 2011, she received Creative Scholarship from the Mayor of the city of Cracow, and she was also among the winners of the Solti Foundation Award.
Maria Sławek is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Cracow, where she has been working at the Violin and Viola Department since 2011, currently as an Assistant Professor. She studied with outstanding musicians – Wiesław Kwaśny and Dora Schwarzberg (in Vienna), and perfected her skills with artists such as Kaja Danczowska, Maxim Vengerov and Wanda Wiłkomirska. In 2019, she earned a post-graduate degree in Polish-Jewish Studies at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.
In 2020 together with Ania Karpowicz Maria established a Mieczysław Wajnberg Institute.
Maria Sławek plays the Charles François Gand violin from the Nicolas Lupot studio (Paris 1817) on a kindly loan from an anonymous donor.