INTERNATIONAL MUSIC CONTEST MODUS 2026
JURY
Juan Miceli – piano (Argentina)
Anna Miernik – piano (Poland/Argentina)
Pavel Wlosok – jazz piano (USA)
Ewa Mrowca – hapsichord (Poland)
Sebastián Masci – violin (Argentina)
Christos Grimpas – cello (Greece)
Jakub Kościukiewicz – baroque cello (Poland)
Małgorzata Żegleń-Włodarczyk – guitar (Poland)
Elżbieta Woleńska – flute (Poland/China)
Zofia Trystuła – oboe, Ethnic Music (Poland)
Xiao Luo – clarinet (China)
Rodolfo La Banca – clarinet, Early Music (Italy)
Tomasz Ślusarczyk – trumpet, Early Music (Poland)
Andrés Sánchez – tuba (Argentina)
Krzysztof Madyda – accordion (Poland)
Miłosz Pękała – percussion (Poland)
Wojciech Fedkowicz – jazz percussion (Poland)
Agnieszka Draus – music theorist, Ethnic Music (Poland)
Juan Miceli is Principal Conductor of the Orquesta Académica del Teatro Colón and is increasingly recognised as one of the most distinctive conductors of his generation to emerge from Argentina. Equally at home in the symphonic, operatic and contemporary repertoire, he has developed a profile marked by stylistic versatility, musical depth and a strong affinity for both classical and twentieth-century music. He has appeared with leading orchestras and ensembles in Argentina, Chile, Austria and Germany, including the Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires, the Orquesta Estable del Teatro Colón, the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Salta, the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de Concepción, and the Black Page Orchestra in Vienna. His work has brought him into collaboration with artists such as Bernarda Fink, Victor Julien-Laferrière, Erwin Schrott and Rafael Fingerlos, as well as with composers including Beat Furrer, Oscar Strasnoy, Sarah Nemtsov and Alex Nante. Miceli is also deeply committed to artistic development and musical leadership. He founded the Buenos Aires-based ensemble Invasión, devoted to repertoire from the first half of the twentieth century, and has held positions as Chief Conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Mar del Plata and the Charlottenburger Kammerchor in Berlin. In 2026, he will make his debut with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Argentina. Juan Miceli studied conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.
Anna Miernik is a Polish pianist who has performed on five continents in 39 countries. She made her Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall in New York in 2015 and has appeared at renowned venues including the Sydney Opera House, Gran Teatro Nacional in Lima and Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. As a soloist, she has performed with leading South American orchestras, including the Argentine National Orchestra, the Peruvian National Orchestra, El Sistema in Venezuela, Orquesta Estable del Teatro Argentino in La Plata, Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo and Banda Sinfónica de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Her discography includes numerous solo and chamber music recordings. Her first album, released in 2014, featured violin and piano sonatas by Johannes Brahms and César Franck. She later recorded works by Feliks Nowowiejski, including previously unperformed compositions reconstructed from manuscripts preserved in the Raczyński Library in Poznań. In 2018, she released the album My Polish Reflection, devoted to Polish music. Between 2024 and 2025, four further albums were released: Mist of Dreams, Sonority, Clair de Lune and Slavic Whispers. Her recordings are available worldwide on streaming platforms and currently reach around 50,000 streams per month on Spotify. A significant part of her artistic activity is dedicated to promoting Polish music and culture internationally. Her repertoire includes works by approximately 50 Polish composers, which she regularly presents in concert programmes around the world. She is also particularly interested in contemporary and rarely performed repertoire and has given a number of premieres, including works dedicated to her. Anna Miernik graduated with distinction from the Academy of Music in Kraków in 2013. She has also worked with internationally renowned musicians and pedagogues, including Paul Badura-Skoda, Andrzej Jasiński and Dina Yoffe. She is a prizewinner of national and international competitions and has received numerous distinctions for her artistic and academic achievements, including scholarships from the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage and the Minister of Science and Higher Education. Anna Miernik regularly serves as a jury member at international piano competitions. In 2024, she represented Poland on the jury of the National Chopin Competition in Colombia, which selected a candidate for the preliminary round of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
Pavel Wlosok is a Czech-born American pianist, composer, arranger, educator, mixing and mastering engineer, and photographer. He received his classical education in piano performance and contemporary composition at the Janacek Conservatory of Music in Ostrava and Janacek Academy in Brno, and obtained his bachelor and master degrees in jazz studies at the University of North Texas (aka UNT) in Denton. Since August 2002, he has been the full time instructor of the Jazz and Commercial Music and Audio Production program at Western Carolina University, in Cullowhee, NC. In 2016, he was awarded a full professorship by the University of North Carolina board of trustees. While at UNT, he served as pianist-arranger for the One O’clock Lab Band (4 CDs, including one featuring Kenny Wheeler as soloist); as solo pianist for the UNT Wind Symphony (CD “Luminaries”); and frequently tours both Europe and North America. In June of 2007 WCU’s Smoky Mountain Brass Quintet performed Pavel’s original commissioned piece “Five Miniatures for Brass Quintet” at Carnegie Hall, New York. Pavel is the recipient of the IAJE Gil Evans Commission in jazz arranging and composition for the year 2000. Since 2012, Pavel has released ten jazz CD albums as a leader featuring world- class musicians including tenor saxophonists Bob Sheppard, Rick Margitza, Joel Frahm, drummer Ed Soph, guitarist Paul Bollenback, and Grammy-Award- winning saxophonist Donny McCaslin and drummer John Riley, and since 2006 has led the Wlosok/McGuirk/Riley jazz trio whose double-CD album “Never Too Old For Love” featuring vocalist Carly Johnson came out in 2020 on Prague’s LH Promotion label. In addition, Pavel is known for his audio recording, mixing, and mastering skills combining technologies of analog reel-to-reel tape and outboard gear with the industry standard Avid ProTools HD system. On occasion, he also enjoys shooting portraits and landscapes with his Nikon-based photography equipment and producing live music videos for his Youtube channel. Pavel maintains a busy international & regional performing schedule and enjoys living in Western North Carolina near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Ewa Mrowca was born in Kraków and began studying the harpsichord at the age of twelve. She graduated with distinction from the Academy of Music in Kraków, where she studied with Elżbieta Stefańska. She is also a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, where she studied with Nicholas Parle, and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, where she studied with Jörg-Andreas Bötticher. She further developed her skills through masterclasses with Kenneth Gilbert, Kris Verhelst, Christophe Rousset, Elisabeth Joyé, Pierre Hantaï, and Jesper B. Christensen. In 2003, she received a distinction at the Broadwood Harpsichord Competition in London, held on historical instruments. She has been awarded scholarships from, among others, the Swiss government through the Federal Excellence Scholarship programme, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana. Ewa Mrowca is deeply committed to historically informed performance on original instruments, with particular emphasis on the historical realisation of basso continuo. She has given recitals on harpsichords from the collections of Fenton House in London, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, and the Musikinstrumenten-Museum in Berlin. In November 2023, she performed J.S. Bach’s Clavier-Übung II there on a 1740 harpsichord by Gottfried Silbermann. As a soloist, she has appeared at the National Forum of Music in Wrocław and at numerous prestigious festivals, including Actus Humanus and Varmia Musica. She performs with early music ensembles in Poland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, and the United States. She has performed under the direction of, among others, Alfredo Bernardini, Benjamin Bayl, Olivia Centurioni, and Paul McCreesh. She has also toured Europe on several occasions with Jakub Józef Orliński and the ensemble Il Giardino d’Amore. She is a co-founder of the Baroque orchestra Altberg Ensemble, with which she recorded two albums for the DUX label: Suites & Concerto under the direction of Peter Van Heyghen, and Ouvertures & Suites conducted by Jörg-Andreas Bötticher. From 2014 to 2023, she collaborated regularly with Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense at the Warsaw Chamber Opera, where she took part, among other projects, in productions of Lully’s Armide and Rameau’s Castor et Pollux, directed by Deda Cristina Colonna. Her discography includes three solo albums released by DUX. The first, Jean Nicolas Geoffroy. Pièces de clavessin, received excellent reviews in the international press, was awarded 5 Diapasons, and was nominated for the 2013 International Classical Music Awards. Her next album, Louis Marchand. Pièces de clavecin, was released in 2021, followed a year later by a two-disc recording of Bach’s French Suites. In 2025, CD Accord released her two-disc album Jean-Henry d’Anglebert. Pièces de clavecin, recorded at the National Forum of Music in Wrocław. Ewa Mrowca is a professor and currently teaches harpsichord and basso continuo at the academies of music in Łódź and Kraków. Since 2014, she has also served as a faculty member at the Varmia Musica Academia summer masterclasses in Lidzbark Warmiński. She performs on instruments by Detmar Hungerberg and Bruce Kennedy.
Sebastián Masci is an Argentine violinist and educator, a graduate of the Carlos López Buchardo National Conservatory of Music and the Universidad Nacional de las Artes, where he earned a degree in Musical Arts with a specialization in violin. He is a member of the first violin section of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra and has previously performed with leading Argentine ensembles, including Camerata Bariloche, the Argentine National Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of Teatro Colón. He is also Professor of Violin at the Astor Piazzolla and Manuel de Falla Conservatories in Buenos Aires. Masci has received numerous distinctions, including the SADAIC Award for Best Performer of Argentine Music, the 2019 Platinum Konex Award as a member of the Gianneo Quartet, and the Radio Nacional Clásica Award for the promotion and dissemination of Argentine music. A committed advocate of Argentine repertoire, he has performed more than 100 Argentine premieres and maintains a repertoire of over 400 works. He is a founding member of the Gianneo Quartet and has recorded six solo albums devoted to Argentine music.
Christos Grimpas – cellist, studied at the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki (prof. D. Patras) and the Universität der Künste in Berlin, further receiving his post graduate music degree from the Folkwang Hochschule Essen (V. Mendelssohn). He was a member of the Rhineland Youth Orchestra, the International Youth Orchestra and the European Union Youth Orchestra. Awards include prizes (Pan-Hellenic Competition for Young Soloists 1997, International Chamber Music Competition of HELEXPO 1998) as well as merit scholarships (Music Friends Society of Athens, the “Alexandra Trianti” Trust and the “Alexandros Onasis” Foundation). He has performed as a soloist with the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki, the Municipal Orchestra of Thessaloniki, the Municipal Orchestra of Pazardjik and the Sofia Symphonic Orchestra, Karlovy Vary Symphonic Orchestra, Dnipro and Harkiv Philarmonic. He has recorded with the Greek Radio Symphonic Orchestra. He has successfully participated in various educational projects. He currently performs as a regular member of the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki. He is a founding member of the formidable “Transcription Ensemble” with performances in events and venues such as the Tate Modern (London), Museo Reina Sofia (Madrid), Megaron (Athens), Greek National Symphony Orchestra (live broadcasting from Athens) etc.
Jakub Kościukiewicz, a cellist from Wrocław, specialises in historically informed performance on period instruments. He is also an educator and an active promoter of initiatives and events devoted to the historical performance of early music. He graduated from the Academy of Music in Kraków, where he studied with Teresa Kamińska, and from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he studied with Alison McGillivray. He also studied at the Dresdner Akademie für Alte Musik with Christine Kyprianides. In addition, he received lessons from Rainer Zipperling, Jennifer Ward Clarke, Jaap ter Linden, Markus Möllenbeck, Bruno Cocset, Paolo Carrai, and Balázs Máté. As a chamber musician, soloist, and orchestral player, he has performed and recorded with many of Poland’s leading ensembles specialising in period instruments, including Collegio di Musica Sacra under Andrzej Kosendiak, the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra, Orkiestra Liryczna, Harmonologia and Kapela Jasnogórska under Jan Tomasz Adamus, Concerto Polacco, Harmonia Sacra, Violin Consort, Starck Company, the Polish 18th-Century Orchestra, Capella 1547, Warsaw Harmony, La Tempesta, Cappella dell’Ospedale della Pietà, Il Giardino d’Amore, Goldberg Baroque Ensemble, Capella Regia Polona, and Orkiestra I Rzeczypospolitej, as well as the Belgian ensemble Les Muffatti and the Italian ensemble Sezione Aurea. He has collaborated with numerous distinguished artists, including Władysław Kłosiewicz, Lilianna Stawarz, Marek Toporowski, Marcin Sompoliński, Marcin Szelest, Zbigniew Pilch, Olga Pasiecznik, Jakub Józef Orliński, Vivica Genaux, Max Emanuel Cenčić, Jacek Kaspszyk, Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen, Jana Semerádová, Tobias Ritter, Janusz Olejniczak, Hubert Rutkowski, Marcin Masecki, Viviana Sofronitsky, Markellos Chryssicos, Yulianna Avdeeva, Konrad Junghänel, Jörg-Andreas Bötticher, Ottavio Dantone, Andreas Spering, Klaus Mertens, Maurice Steger, Roman Dubrovski, Friedrich Haider, Daniel Sepec, Daan Vermeulen, Roel Dieltiens, Andreas Staier, Giovanni Antonini, Alfredo Bernardini, Roberto Trainini, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Luigi Giardini, Enrico Gatti, Claudio Cavina, Antonio De Carlo, Bruno de Sá, Filippo Mineccia, Alessandro De Marchi, Alexis Kossenko, Dominique Visse, Philippe van Heyghen, Korneel Verhelst, Jérémie Rhorer, Théotime Langlois de Swarte, Skip Sempé, Marc Minkowski, Judith van Wanroij, Ian Bostridge, Julia Schröder, Jaap ter Linden, Paul Goodwin, Benjamin Bayl, Pavlo Beznosiuk, Ivor Bolton, Laurence Cummings, Nicholas Parle, Simon Standage, and Christian Curnyn. He has also worked with Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Players, Hans-Christoph Rademann and the Dresdner Kammerchor, the Windsbach Boys Choir, Marek Štryncl and Musica Florea, and Philippe Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent. Since 2008, he has collaborated with the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra under Jarosław Thiel at the National Forum of Music (NFM), and since 2014 with the Royal Baroque Ensemble under Lilianna Stawarz. Since 2005, he has also been a member of Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense at the Warsaw Chamber Opera, where he serves as concertmaster. He teaches Baroque cello, early music ensembles, and Baroque orchestra at the Grażyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź and at the Fryderyk Chopin State Music School Complex in Warsaw. Since 2017, he has held a doctoral degree in the arts. Kościukiewicz is the initiator of the Inter-University Baroque Orchestra and the founder and Artistic Director of Altberg Ensemble, a Baroque orchestra bringing together graduates of the Academy of Music in Łódź. The ensemble has received numerous distinctions, including the Armatka Kultury Award in 2017, the Gold Diploma of the Muzyczny Orzeł Awards in the Music Event of the Year category in 2022, a nomination for the 2022 Fryderyk Award in the Early Music category for the album Telemann – Suites & Concerto released by DUX, and another Gold Diploma of the Muzyczny Orzeł Awards in the Phonographic Album category in 2023. In 2023, Ars Sonora released his solo album featuring cello sonatas by Antonio Vivaldi, recorded together with British musicians Nicholas Parle and Sam Chapman. Jakub Kościukiewicz performs, among others, on a copy of a 1693 Matteo Goffriller cello built by Benjamin Muthesius, an anonymous Mecklenburg instrument dating from 1780, and an instrument by G. S. Liebich dating from 1790.
www.martaignatowicz.com
MAŁGORZATA ŻEGLEŃ-WŁODARCZYK-classical guitarist, lute, doctor of Musical Arts in Performance, graduate of master’s studies and post-graduate studies from the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków from the Instrumental Faculty, where she studied classical guitar in Ph.D. Michał Nagy’s class. She also studied lute under the guidance of Jerzy Żak. She worked under the guidance of many eminent guitarists and lute players such as M. Dylla, J. Held, C. Marchione, P. Saidl, R. Aussel, H. Wallisch, Ph. Villa, A. Vianna, H. Fallman, P. Zaleski, M. Siatkowski, C. Maccari, P. Pugliese. She participated in master courses run by R. Gallén, R. Diens, Duo Melis (S. Prieto, A. Mazurakis), M. Nosal and P. Garibay. She took part in workshops, seminars and lectures devoted to the interpretation of baroque music run by J. Żak, J. Held, H. Smith (lute), R. Brown (traverso flute), M. Erdman, B. Klapprott (clavichord), Ch. Schornsheim, J. Ogg, K. Haugsand (harpsichord), S.-L. Kaakinen-Pilch, Z. Pilch (baroque violin), 19th and 20th century guitar music and Spanish music (J. Cardoso, D. Ribouillault, Z. Dubiela), guitar music by St. Mroński and A. Tansman (K. Nieborak), lectures (K. Komarnicki, J. Żak, C. Maccari, P. Pugliese) as part of the scientific session Days of J.N. Bobrowicz, organized by the Academy of Music in Kraków, leading both guitar and chamber ensembles (J. Hübscher, K. Wieczorek) or the ergonomics of playing the guitar (T. Offerman). She also perfected her skills at courses as part of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th International Guitar Workshops in Lanckorona (since 2008), including methodological workshops on leading guitar ensembles (J. Hübscher), jazz improvisation “First Chorus” (M. Olak) and Latin American guitar music (L. Potasiński). Małgorzata Żegleń-Włodarczyk gives concerts as a soloist and chamber musician in Poland and abroad, performing at the 15th Festival de Musique Baroque d’Auvergne (France), 6th, 7th and 8th Festival of Polish Organ and Chamber Music in Nitra (Slovakia), Zichyho Palác in Bratislava (Slovakia), Bezirksmuseum in Vienna (Austria), 14th and 22nd Summer Concerts of Organ and Chamber Music in Limanowa, Letnie Koncerty Podgórskie and Podgórze Cultural Autumn in Kraków, 26th International Decade of Organ, Choir and Chamber Music in Cieszyn, Summer Chamber Concerts in Dobra, the Chopin Center in Szafarnia, the 20th and 27th Finals of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, the 5th International Festival “Relationships between the cultures of the south and the north – Schubert-Chopin-Grieg – mutual inspirations and resonance in painting and literature” (Kraków). She has collaborated with many soloists, chamber ensembles and accompanists, the mixed choir Camerata under the direction of I. Szota and the Fresco Sonare orchestra, conducted by M. Bachowska. Co-founder of “Finesis Trio” ensemble (2008), with whom she released her debut album – “Sun captured in the sounds of Spain and Italy”. She also collaborates with polish composers. She made the Polish premieres of works by S. Brotons, F. Carulli (Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra in E minor op. 140), T. Giordani and G. Gorelova, and – for the first time in the history of phonography – recordings (together with Paulina Tkaczyk-Cichoń) of all solo sonatas for guitar and basso continuo by T. Giordani (2019). Speaker at international and national scientific conferences (including the 2nd International Scientific and Artistic Conference of Doctoral Students and Young Scientists “Faces of the guitar in scientific research” in Częstochowa) and seminars in the field of music theory. Author of articles about the English guitar (guittar) and guitar music of the second half of the 18th century (magazines: “MusiQs” at the Krzystof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, “Edukacja Muzyczna” at the Jan Długosz University of Humanities and Life Sciences in Częstochowa). She has been awarded many scholarships for her scientific activity. Reviewer of the Quarterly of Young Musicologists of the Jagiellonian University. She is invited as a juror by the organizers of guitar competitions. Since 2010 she has been teaching a guitar class in primary and secondary music schools in Kraków and Wieliczka. Her students have been successful in competitions.
Elżbieta Woleńska is an internationally acclaimed flutist, soloist, educator, and recording artist whose career spans Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. Renowned for her artistic versatility and expressive performances, she appears regularly as a recitalist and concerto soloist, performing at leading flute festivals and concert series in, among others, the United States, China, Hong Kong, Mexico, Slovenia, Macau, UK, and Australia. She is Professor of Flute at Zhaoqing University, China. She graduated with distinction from the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, Poland, where she studied flute in the class of Professor Jerzy Mrozik and later earned her PhD and habilitation in musical arts. She also received the prestigious Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste, awarded unanimously with the congratulations of the jury at the École Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot, studying under the distinguished French flutist Professor Pierre-Yves Artaud. Equally at home in the classical, contemporary, and crossover repertoire, Elżbieta is recognized for her wide-ranging artistic interests. Her performances encompass works for flute, piccolo, alto flute, and bass flute, while her collaborations with composers have led to numerous performances of contemporary music, including works incorporating electronics and jazz influences. As a recording artist, she has released two acclaimed albums: Elżbieta Woleńska & Friends, featuring music by Claude Bolling together with works for solo flute, and Souvenir, the world-premiere recording devoted to the Romantic flute virtuoso Johann Sedlatzek. A sought-after performer and pedagogue, Elżbieta has been invited to give masterclasses, lectures, and performances at universities and international flute festivals around the world. Her Carnegie Hall debut, presented in a sold-out recital with pianist Zhang Moru, marked another milestone in her international career. Alongside her performing and teaching activities, she serves as Chair of the Polish Flutist Association, actively promoting flute performance, education, and international artistic collaboration.
Zofia Trystuła – oboist, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, she draws inspiration from a wide range of musical genres and styles originating from diverse cultures and distant regions of the world. The music of the South Caucasus, particularly the musical traditions of Armenia, holds a special place in her artistic work. Wishing to gain a deeper understanding of the culture and its centuries-old musical traditions, she decided to travel to their source and lived in Armenia for a period of time. In Yerevan, she studied the Armenian duduk, zurna, and shvi flute under the guidance of master musician Harutyun Chkolyan. She further developed her skills by participating in numerous international duduk masterclasses led by such renowned musicians as Emanuel Hovhannisyan, Georgi Minasyan, Abel Ashkaryan, and Gor Manukyan. Alongside the duduk, zurna, and shvi flute, she also plays the Persian santoor and various types of ethnic flutes. She is additionally an accomplished oboist and English horn player, specialising also in historical oboes from the 18th and 19th centuries. She graduated with distinction from the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, completing her Master’s degree in the oboe class of Prof. Marek Mleczko in 2015, followed by studies in Baroque oboe with Dr Katarzyna Pilipiuk, completed in 2021. As part of international scholarship programmes, she studied at the University of Aveiro in Portugal and the Conservatorio di Verona in Italy. She also completed an international teaching internship at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, where she taught students of the World Music Department. She is a co-founder of Organic Noises, a World Music/fusion-jazz ensemble with which she has released two albums, Organic Noises and ReCreationLive. She also co-founded the Baroque music group Anabasis Ensemble and Trio Etnoteka, which specialises in the performance of traditional and ethnic music from various cultures of Europe and Asia. As both a soloist and a member of ensembles and symphony orchestras, she has collaborated with, among others, the Armenian National Opera, the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, orchestras of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Kraków Philharmonic, the Zielona Góra Philharmonic, the Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Sinfonietta Cracovia, and international film music orchestras. As a duduk soloist, she has performed music from major film productions, including Dune and The Passion of the Christ. Alongside her performing career, she is deeply committed to teaching. Her particular areas of interest include vocal practice and therapeutic work with the voice. She is the creator of the Kontakt z Głosem (“Connecting with the Voice”) course series, devoted to developing conscious vocal practice and exploring the voice’s expressive potential.
Xiao Luo – clarinetists, professor and band conductor in Zhaoqing University (China), started her clarinet studies in 2006 at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou. After graduation, she went to Germany to study with Prof. Manfred Hadaschik (Musikakademie der Stadt in Kassel). In 2012, she enrolled at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent (Belgium) to pursue a master’s degree in clarinet with Prof. Eddy Vanoosthuyse and his two assistants, Dany Corstiens and Frank Coryn. During her time in Europe, she also studied chamber music at the Liège Conservatory (Belgium). In 2017, she was hired as clarinet teacher at Zhaoqing University. She was also invited to perform a concert during the Wind Instrument Festival at the Xinghai Conservatory and gave public lessons to the conservatory students. In 2018, she was invited to perform at the I.C.A. ClarinetFest in Ostend, Belgium and played two recitals in France. She was also invited to the second Thailand Clarinet Festival in Bangkok where she played concerts and gave masterclasses. That same year, Xiao Luo was invited to perform at UNT (University of North Texas). Since 2019, she has been a regular performer and masterclass instructor at the Qingdao International Clarinet Festival. In 2020, she has been appointed as the conductor for the Zhaoqing University Windband with which she has won numerous prizes in China. She succesfully premiered “Cacophony for Clarinet and Delay” by Jenni Brandon, Invited as guest artist at the 12th European Clarinet Festival, performing as a soloist in concerts, as a Jury in the European ECC Tilburg International Competition for Young Musicians. Teach masterclasses at the Fontys University of the Arts in Tilburg, the Netherlands. Invited as a final-round jury member for the International Clarinet Flemish Music Ghent (2025), and concurrently invited to give masterclasses at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent. 2026 Jury (final) & masterclass instructor, 6th Int’l Mozart Clarinet Competition.
Rodolfo La Banca – clarinetist, professor and Head of Department at the National Conservatory of Music in Frosinone, Italy, and Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Parma, Italy. He is also a visiting professor at the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts in Japan, and a visiting professor at the Clarinet University of Camerino, Italy. Rodolfo studied the clarinet at an early age and obtained the highest diplomas in Italy in Clarinet Performance, Musicology with a specialisation in Opera and Stage Performance, Composition, and Music Pedagogy. After performing and teaching for many years, Rodolfo developed an interest in the classical clarinet and subsequently obtained the highest diploma in classical clarinet at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels. He was invited to do masterclass in: The Conservatory of Music in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the China Conservatory of Music, the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, the Bamfield Conservatory of Music in Argentina, the J. Straus School of Music in Malta, University of Dallas,, Austin University of Texas , Bloomington indiana university , Northern University in Los Angeles, Castello Branco, Lisbon and Porto Escola Superior de Musicain Portugal, Royal College of music in Stockholm and many other music schools around the world have invited him to give master classes and concerts. He is the founder of the chamber music trio “Seikilos” for clarinet, cello and piano, and has performed all the works written by L. van Beethoven for this ensemble in Europe. He is also the founder of the Kalamus Trio, which performs 18th century clarinet repertoire on original instruments of the period. He is regularly invited to participate in major festivals around the world as a solo clarinetist, conductor and music theorist. He has been invited to give masterclasses, lectures and performances at festivals such as the Victoria International Music Festival – Gozo (Malta), the “west cost” festival in Lisbon (Portugal), the “Paisiello” festival in Italy, the Carmelino International Clarinet Festival (Europe) and many others. Invited by festivals to give masterclasses andperform in concerts. Year-round performances with orchestra di Padova e del Veneto (Italy), Die Freitagesakademie (Bern, Switzerland), Zurich Operahaus in Zurich, Orchestra Barocca Concerto Iberico (Italy), orchestra collegium musicum (Italy), orchestra la follia (Italy),orchestra barocca Santa Maria dei Maschi.
Tomasz Ślusarczyk – trumpet player, born in Przemyśl, he graduated from the Music School Complex in Przemyśl and the Academy of Music in Kraków, where he received his diploma with distinction. Since 1991, he has been associated with such ensembles as Capella Cracoviensis and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, with which he made numerous recordings for Polish Radio and Television. He collaborates with many orchestras in Poland and abroad, including the Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra, the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic in Białystok, and the Warsaw Chamber Opera. Since 2005, he has also collaborated with the renowned Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century in Amsterdam. As a soloist and chamber musician, he has performed at numerous festivals in Russia, Ireland, Germany, Ukraine, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. He has been invited to collaborate with distinguished musicians such as Frans Brüggen, Paul Esswood, Christopher Hogwood, and Marek Toporowski. Under his artistic direction, the Polish Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century has made a number of recordings of musical works preserved in the Jasna Góra collections. He is also actively involved in research into sources of Eastern Orthodox Church music from the territories of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He frequently serves as a jury member at national and international music competitions.
Andrés Felipe Sánchez Acevedo – tuba player,born in Apía, Colombia, Andrés began his musical studies at the Municipal School of Music (COMARCA). He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the National Pedagogical University of Colombia and is also a graduate of the Orchestral Academy of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. He studied at the Manuel de Falla Conservatory under Patricio Cosentino and Pedro Pulzován and also received instruction from Sebastian Wagemann. He has participated in masterclasses with renowned tuba players from around the world. Throughout his career, Andrés has been a member of the Cundinamarca Symphonic Band, the Florencio Varela Symphony Orchestra, and the José de San Martín National Youth Symphony Orchestra. For eleven years, he served as principal tuba of the National Symphony Orchestra of Argentina. He has also been regularly invited to perform with various symphony orchestras in Buenos Aires. His international experience includes participation in the Teatro del Lago International Academy in 2015, the Campos do Jordão Winter Festival in 2016, and the Orchestra of the Americas in 2017. Andrés is currently a member of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra at the Colon Theatre. Alongside his orchestral work, he regularly performs with chamber ensembles and appears as a soloist with orchestras.
Krzysztof Madyda – accordionist, winner of over 30 awards in national and international competitions, including 1st prize at the International Competition for Interpretation of Contemporary Music in Rome, 3rd prize at the 21st International Accordion Meetings in Sanok, and honorable mentions at the 12th and 13th Andrzej Krzanowski Accordion Competition in Czechowice-Dziedzice. Multiple scholarship recipients include the Rector’s Award of the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow for the best students. He also received a prestigious scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage in 2022. From 2021 to 2022, he studied at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold as an Erasmus+ scholarship holder. In 2018, he received the Krakow County Award “For outstanding achievements in the field of artistic creation, dissemination and protection of culture.” He graduated with distinction from his bachelor’s degree in accordion with Dr. Janusz Pater and his master’s degree in accordion with Dr. Maciej Zimka at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków. He continued his education with a master’s degree in accordion with Dr. Maciej Frąckiewicz at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, graduating in 2024. He also participated in the second edition of the PRO Hashtag Ensemble Academy. He has taken master classes under the direction of Geir Draugsvoll, Veli Kujala, Claudio Jacomucci, Grzegorz Stopa, and Janne Rättyä. Krzysztof is an active artist in Poland and abroad. He has performed at the Krakow Accordion Festival, the “Muziko De Nia Tempo” Festival, the International Artistic and Scientific Conference “On the Road to New Harmony”, the Festival of Premieres at the NOSPR, the 6th Schlossfestival in Detmold (Germany) and the Reate Festival in Rome. He has given numerous premieres of solo and chamber works in collaboration with leading composers of contemporary music.
Miłosz Pękala graduated with distinction from the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, now the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, where he studied percussion. He also studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen under Prof. Gert Mortensen. For many years, as both a soloist and chamber musician, he has taken part in prestigious concerts, festivals, and a wide variety of artistic projects encompassing contemporary, popular, and ethnic music. He specialises in vibraphone, multi-percussion setups, and Latin American percussion instruments. In his own artistic projects, he places particular emphasis on new technologies and interdisciplinary approaches. Miłosz Pękala is a prizewinner of numerous competitions, both as a soloist and as a member of chamber ensembles. His distinctions include First Prize and the Award of the Mayor of Warsaw, Lech Kaczyński, at the 2nd Mikołaj Stasiniewicz International Percussion Competition in Warsaw (2014); finalist status at the International Percussion Duo Competition in Luxembourg (2008); First Prize in the vibraphone category at the International Percussion Competition in Fermo, Italy (2009); and Third Prize together with a Special Prize in the marimba duo category at the Universal Marimba Competition in Belgium (2013). Albums featuring Pękala have also received major recognition. Folklove (Polish Radio, 2008) and Requiem Ludowe(Polish Radio/NiNA, 2015) were named the best folk music albums of 2008 and 2015 respectively. The album Lutosławski/Tuwim. Piosenki nie tylko dla dzieci, recorded with Dorota Miśkiewicz and released by Sony in 2014, achieved Gold Record status. 1976: A Space Odyssey (Lado ABC/Polish Radio/National Audiovisual Institute, 2015), recorded with Zbigniew Wodecki and Mitch&Mitch, achieved Double Platinum status and received a Fryderyk Award in the Album of the Year – Pop category. In 2015, together with the members of the Kwadrofonik Quartet, he received the prestigious Polityka Passport Award in the Classical Music category. Pękala is also active as a composer. His works have appeared on recordings by, among others, the Kwadrofonik Quartet and the percussion duo Pękala Kordylasińska Pękala. Together with Bartłomiej Wąsik, he created the ballet Ksenofonia. Symfonia dla innego (Xenophony. Symphony for the Other) for the Malta Festival in 2016, directed by Jan Komasa. As a composer, he has collaborated with Jerzy Schejbal on the theatre/radio production Garbus (Polish Radio Theatre, 2019), and with Lena Frankiewicz on the productions Puste Miejsca (Wybrzeże Theatre, 2024), Feblik (National Theatre, 2024), and Pippi Langstrump (Maska Theatre, 2025). In 2019, his composition Radio for Vibraphone, for vibraphone and tape, received Second Prize at the 1st Peles International Composition Competition in Portugal. In the same year, his work Noise Study was included on the album Birthday Party, dedicated to Włodzimierz Kotoński. His discography includes three solo albums: Monopercussion (BÓŁT Records, 2018), Monopercussion 2 (BÓŁT Records, 2021), and 8 Pieces in Different Tempos (Gustaff Records, 2021). In 2025, Chopin University Press published the multi-author monograph Sztuka Perkusyjna. Tradycja i Współczesność(The Art of Percussion: Tradition and Contemporary Practice), which Pękala conceived and edited. As an author, he has also contributed to Glissando magazine and the journal Ruch Muzyczny. Currently, Dr hab. Miłosz Pękala holds the position of Professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. He organises academic and artistic events, serves on juries of music competitions, and is the Artistic Director of the Hob-beats Percussion Group project. He is also a member and co-creator of ensembles including Mitch&Mitch, Pękala Kordylasińska Pękala, MIR, and Chain Ensemble. He collaborates with leading artists including Cezary Duchnowski, Małgorzata Walentynowicz, Andrzej Bauer, Marcin Zdunik, Dawid Podsiadło, Dorota Miśkiewicz, Natalia Przybysz, Andrzej Smolik, Szymon Sobel, Leszek Możdżer, Ewa Bem, Sokół, and Monika Borzym, while regularly appearing at major artistic events in Poland and abroad. In his free time, he collects comic books, enjoys rock climbing, and explores the world of 8-bit music.
Wojciech Fedkowicz is a percussionist, composer, and educator. He is a laureate of the Bielska Zadymka Jazzowa Festival, winner of the Grand Prix at the Jazz Juniors Festival, and recipient of the ZAiKS Award at the Jazz Nad Odrą competition. He has been awarded a scholarship by the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage as well as the City of Kraków Creative Scholarship. As the leader of the Wojtek Fedkowicz Noise Trio, he has released two albums: Post-Digital Dreamers (2013) and Distant Heroes (2020). Together with his wife, harpist Agnieszka Grela-Fedkowicz, he has released two original duo albums: Imaginary Space (2018) and Punkty wyjścia (2023). Throughout his career, he has collaborated with numerous renowned artists, including Grzegorz Turnau, Adam Sztaba, Monika Brodka, O.S.T.R., Krzysztof Cugowski, Janusz Radek, the band Laboratorium, Leszek Możdżer, Michał Urbaniak, and China Moses. He currently performs with Kuba Badach and took part in the recording of Badach’s latest solo album. Fedkowicz has contributed to the recording of numerous albums, as well as music for television series and TV productions. He is also the composer of music for animated films and advertising campaigns. He graduated from the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, where he studied percussion in the class of Prof. Jan Pilch. Since October 2010, he has been a faculty member in the Department of Jazz at his alma mater. In 2025, he received his habilitation degree (doktor habilitowany).
Agnieszka Draus – music theorist, doctor of habilitation, professor at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków – in the Department of Music Theory and Interpretation, Dean of the Faculty of Composition, Interpretation and Music Education at the Academy of Music, vice-president on the Board of the Musicologists‘ Section of the Polish Composers’ Union. In her professional activity, she combines three complementary spheres: research, teaching and popularisation of music. So far, in her scientific activity, she has focused on the issues of contemporary music, with particular emphasis on musical theatre (for her MA thesis on Krzysztof Penderecki’s opera Paradise Lost, she received the Award of the City of Krakow, and for her PhD thesis on Karlheinz Stockhausen’s opera cycle Licht, she received the ZKP Prof. Hieronim Feicht Award). She researches the works of Polish composers: W. Lutoslawski, M. Stachowski, P. Mykietyn, J. Rychlik and young artists of Krakow; she also focuses her attention on issues related to performance and contemporary music as well as ethnic music. Popular culture is also close to her, especially examples of progressive rock and heavy metal. In addition to more than 80 articles, she has published three books in AMKP: (1.) Karlheinz Stockhausen’s stage cycle Licht. Musical Theatre of the World 2011, (2.) Sound and Sense. Studies on the work of Marek Stachowski 2016 (the book was nominated for the Jan Długosz Award), and Józef Rychlik and His Music. Dialogues and Commentaries 2026. She is also co-author (with Joanna Wiśnios) of Opera Atlas for Young People. She disseminates the results of her research by taking part in International Scientific Conferences (e.g. in Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Belgium, UK, Slovenia, Germany, Italy, Serbia, Spain, Portugal, Japan).