Janusz_Wawrowski_Biography_09.2015

Janusz Wawrowski
“A virtuoso with the deep-souled tone of a poet”
(Huffington Post), playing with “a bulletproof
technique that yields countless insights and beauties”
(Strings), highly esteemed for his “utmost artistry and
musical conviction” (The Strad), recognized as
“Meritorious for Polish Culture”
Janusz Wawrowski is a Polish violin virtuoso and
Warner Classics artist. He graduated from the Chopin
Univeristy of Music in Warsaw, where he studied under
professor Mirosław Ławrynowicz. Later he mastered his
skills under Yair Kless and Salvatore Accardo.
Wawrowski has performed at the Berliner
Philharmonie, Piotr Tchaikovsky’s Conservatory in Moscow, Victoria and Albert
Museum in London, Grosser Saal of Mozarteum in Salzburg, De Doelen
Concertgebouw in Rotterdam, Tel Aviv Music Center, Teatro Teresa Carreño
in Caracas and others. He also participated in many reputable festivals, such as
Salzburger Festspiele, Bebersee Festival and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Chopin
and His Europe Festival, Polish Music Festival and Transatlantyk Festival.
Working with Conrad van Alphen, Łukasz Borowicz, Gabriel Chmura, Mykola Diadiura,
Agnieszka Duczmal, Michał Dworzyński, Arthur Fagen, Jacek Kaspszyk, Jerzy Maksymiuk,
Tomáš Netopil, Vladimir Ponkin and Antoni Wit, Janusz Wawrowski has appeared with Polish
National Radio Symphony Orchestra Katowice (NOSPR), Sinfonia Varsovia, Warsaw
Philharmonic Orchestra, the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (POR), Amadeus Chamber
Orchestra, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela
and many other orchestras in Poland, Czech Republic and Ukraine.
Janusz Wawowski premiered several contemporary violin concertos: Vivaldi Recomposed by
Max Richter (Polish premiere), The Four Seasons by Sukhi Kang (Polish premiere),
L.A. Concerto by Tomasz Jakub Opałka (world premiere performance) and Óneiros concerto
by Dariusz Przybylski (world premiere recording).
Collaborating with Jan A. P. Kaczmarek, Wawrowski premiered and recorded music for
Hollywood films - Evening (directed by Lajos Koltai) and Get Low (directed by Aaron
Schneider).
As a very young student, Janusz Wawrowski acquired a unique skill of performing all the
famous 24 Caprices by Paganini in one concert evening. In 2007 he recorded his first CD,
Niccolò Paganini 24 Caprices Op. 1, which was enthusiastically received by critics and music
lovers alike. Wolfgang Marschner observed that his performances may be compared with the
playing of “only few distinguished European violinists.” Famous Polish violinist, Konstanty
Andrzej Kulka wrote: “the very fact alone of being able to perform all the 24 Caprices inspires
admiration and earns appreciation. The style in which Mr. Janusz Wawrowski plays
the Caprices makes us optimistic as to the future of the art of violin in Poland.” And the great
Ida Haendel stated: “In my opinion, Mr. Janusz Wawrowski is a violinist of outstanding
quality, who deserves a fine career on the concert stage“.
In 2013 Wawrowski signed a multi-year artistic contract with Warner Music. His first CD for
the label Aurora with the works by Karol Szymanowski, Witold Lutosławski, Maurice Ravel
and Eugène Ysaÿe, has received excellent reviews in international press (Strings, The Strad,
Pizzicato and Huffington Post).
By the year 2018 Warner Classics plans to have released four albums featuring Janusz
Wawrowski in violin concertos and solo works. One of the CDs is to be recorded in 2016 with
the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London.
Hailed by the press “an authentic and deeply compelling advocate for the music of Poland”
(Huffington Post), Janusz Wawrowski is a keen explorer, performer and editor of missing or
forgotten works by Polish composers, including Mieczysław Karłowicz, Karol Lipiński and
Zygmunt Noskowski.
In 2013 he was chosen to take part in the photography project by Ukrainian artist Stepan
Rudik featuring outstanding Poles whose artistic activity has left a significant trace in the
world. Among them were Krzysztof Penderecki, Wojciech Kilar, Olga Pasichnyk, Andrzej
Wajda, Krzysztof Zanussi and Agnieszka Holland.
As “a virtuoso of the highest order”, he has performed for two Presidents of the Republic
of Poland and for the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso.
In recognition of his artistic achievements, Janusz Wawrowski was awarded Decoration of
Honour “Meritorious for Polish Culture” by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
Beyond the concert stage, he is a violin professor at The Fryderyk Chopin University of Music
in Warsaw and the Artistic Director of the chamber music festival Spaces of Music.