Kinga Augustyn Musica
Award winning Polish-born and New York City-based concert violinist Kinga Augustyn has been described as “an adventurous performer valuable to New York’s scene” (NY Concert Review), “violinist for whom nothing seems too difficult” (Polish Daily News), “stylish and vibrant…playing with verve and superb control….great sensitivity and unashamed virtuosity” (The Strad Magazine), and “beyond amazing, one hell of a violinist, who has already made a name for herself in violin circles!” (The Fanfare Magazine). She has performed as a soloist with orchestras in the United States, Europe and Asia. Among them are the Magdeburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra Leopoldinum, the Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the American Academy of Conducting Orchestra at the Aspen Music Festival, the Manhattan Symphonie, the Gateway Classical Music Society Orchestra, the Broadway Bach Ensemble, the Glacier Symphony, and the Augusta Symphony Orchestra. Augustyn made her Asian debut this year (2014) as a soloist of The Manhattan Symphonie; she performed multiple concerts at China’s most prestigious concerts venues: Beijing’s Poly Theater and Shanghai Oriental Art Center. In addition to her many orchestra appearances, Kinga maintains a busy concert schedule as a recitalist and chamber musician with appearances at Carnegie Hall (in both the Stern Auditorium and the Weill Recital Hall), Alice Tully Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Merkin Hall, The Kosciuszko Foundation, Bargemusic, The Aspen Music Festival, The Polish and Hungarian Embassies in Washington, DC, Chicagos Cultural Center (Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts Series), and The Ethical Society in Philadelphia, among many others. She has performed as a featured artist at music festivals such as the Festival Amadeus in Montana, Paderewski Festival in California, the Sevenars Music Festival in Massachusetts, the Chopin & Friends Festival in NYC, the Emerson Quartet International Chamber Music Festival on Long Island, NY, and the Henryk Wieniawski Festival in Poland. Her prestigious collaborations include solo performances with The Jose Limon Dance Company at the Joyce Theater in NYC. The conductors she has worked with include Francesco Corti, Marek Pijarowski, John Zoltek, Arkady Leytush, Ida Angland. Kinga Augustyn’s discography rapidly keeps expanding. Her most recent and critically acclaimed recordings include Glen Roven’s Runaway Bunny Concerto (trio version with Kinga Augustyn’s Solo Violin Cadenza) for GPR Records (Naxos distribution), with Catherine Zeta- Jones as a narrator, pianist Jeffrey Biegel and cellist Robert DeMaine, as well as Kenneth Fuchs’ Falling Trio for Naxos. She has premiered and recorded Michael White’s works composed especially for her. These include his Sonata for Violin and Piano (2009), his Trio Sonata (2008), and the Quartet for Piano and Strings (2010), released on Albany. Committed to increasing awareness of music by Polish composers, as well as promoting contemporary music, Ms. Augustyn has made a significant contribution to Polish music by recording a highly praised CD of lesser known Polish Violin Music. Released in 2013 on Naxos, the CD called by The Strad Magazine a “fascinating traversar of a century and a half virtuosic music from Poland” includes many world premiere recordings of not only 20th century but also 19th century works! The Fanfare Magazine compares the excitement in Augustyn’s performances of Zarzycki’s Mazurkas to David Oistrakh’s and it applauds her “fresh and dramatic approach to Lipinski’s music” predicting that it “shall bring her new admirers”. Music Web International calls Kinga Augustyn “another discovery”. Augustyn’s new contemporary music CD will come out in 2015, in addition to a few other recordings, while her early discography includes Niccolo Paganini 24 Caprices for Solo Violin. Kinga Augustyn also performs Ysaye’s “Ballade” in the documentary movie ” Solomon Volkov. Conversations with Yevgeny Yevtushenko” filmed for Channel One Russia. Ms. Augustyn has won international awards, including First Prizes at the Alexander & Buono International String Competition (NYC), Artist International Presentations (NYC), J. S. Bach String Competition (Zielona Gora, Poland), and Ackerman Chamber Music Competition at Stony Brook, NY. Other top honors include prizes at the Kosciuszko Foundation Wieniawski Violin Competition (NYC), the Johannes Brahms International Competition (Poertschach, Austria), the Kloster Schoental International Young Artist Competition (Kloster Scheontal, Germany), as well as New Horizon Fellowship from the Aspen Music Festival, The Young Musical Scholar Award, the Kosciuszko Foundation Scholarship, Crescendum Est Polonia Award, the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union Achievement Award, and most recently the Diploma for Promoting Polish Music from Consul General of Poland in New York. Kinga Augustyn began her music studies at the age of seven in her native Poland. Her first violin teachers were Aleksandra Bogdan and Zbigniew Szuflat. Musically she was also influenced by her mother, soprano Mariola Augustyn. Later on she went on to study at The Juilliard School, where she worked with Dorothy DeLay, Cho – Liang Lin, and Naoko Tanaka, and earned both the Bachelor and the Master degrees. Augustyn holds a doctorate from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she was a student of Phil Setzer and Pamela Frank. Her other former teachers include Petru Munteanu, Piotr Milewski, and Kurt Sassmannshauss. As a teacher, Ms. Augustyn has served as a Violin Faculty for The Alexander & Buono Festival of Music. She has also conducted various violin, piano and chamber music masterclasses and workshops in the United States and Poland. She has a private violin studio in Manhattan, which includes very talented young musicians.