Stanisław Firlej & Wojciech Kubica
Biography Stanisław Firlej & Wojciech Kubica
Stanisław Firlej
the Polish cello virtuoso is one of the most notable artists in his country. Thanks to his talent , supported by profound music studies he has been developing a well-animated concerto activity for many years.He completed his study at the Moscow Conservatory under the tutelage of Natalia Gutman and the Accademia Chigiana in Siena under the direction of Andre Navarra.
Firlej made his concerto debut at Sankt Petersburg Conservatory /1964/ after he had won the I award in the Intercollegiate cello Competition playing Boccherini's B flat major concerto with the orchestra. Later he won the V prize at the International Music Competition "Gaudeamus" in Rotterdam.
In 1976 Firlej joined the National Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra as principal cellist and soloist. The group toured throughout the world including Japan, New Zealand, Australia, North and South Americas. Cello concertos from the classic era were often performed during those tours.
Firlej made also many recordings such as Schubert's Sonata "Arpeggione" with the Austrian pianist Paul Badura-Skoda and all Schubert's piano trios with the Rubinstein-Trio for Le Chant du Monde in Paris.
The Rubinstein-Trio was formed in 1984 to pay a tribute to Artur Rubinstein's memory. Since that time the group has given a lot of concerts throughout Europe and in the famous festivals such as Lugano and La Chaise Dieu /France/.
Firlej is also a founder of the "Polish Camerata" Chamber Orchestra. The group deals with the classical period music playing works of Mozart, Boccherini, Haydn and others. Their performances are well-received not only in Poland but in Spain Germany and France as well.
Stanisław Firlej is now a professor of cello class at Music Academies in Lodz and Wroclaw.
Wojciech Kubica
was born in 1980 in Cracow. He had begun piano studies at age of eight at Goleniów Primary School of Music under Magdalena Kochan’s tutation and had continued his studies at the Secondary School of Music in Szczecin. He obtained diploma in distinction in Mikołaj Szczęsny’s class in 1999. He graduated from the Academy of Music in Katowice with master of art degree in piano playing as a student of prof.Joanna Domańska’s, in 2004. He sucsesfully finished post-graduated studies with prof. Grzegorz Kurzyński at the Academy of Music in Wroclaw in 2005.
Since 2004 he has been working at the Academies of Music in Wroclaw and Katowice. He has been employed as an assistant in piano class of prof. Cezary Sanecki at the Academy of Music in Lodz since October 2008. In 2014 he received the degree of Doctor of Arts from Academy of Music in Lodz.
Wojciech Kubica’s achievements include:
- the Ist prize at the International Piano Competition in Kiev (2003)
- the IVth prize and the Special Prize for the best performance of Cello Sonata by C.Franck at the International Chamber Music Competition “Val Tidone” in Italy (2004)
- performance at the Polish Piano Festival in Słupsk (September 2004)
- in 2005 he took part in eliminations for the XVth Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw
- on the D.Danczowski Cello Competition in Poznan in 2007 he received an award for the pianist “for the special contribution in artistic value of competition’s performances”.
Wojciech Kubica performed with orchestra for the first time at the age of 12.He has appeared on the stages as soloist and chamber music player in Poland (Wroclaw, Szczecin, Walbrzych, Lodz, Poznan, Cracow, Warsaw ) and abroad ( Germany, Spain, Italy, Russian and Ukraine ).
During piano masterclasses he worked with Karl-Heinz Kammerling, Kevin Kenner, Vladimir Krainev and Vladimir Viardo.
Wojciech Kubica’s wide repertoire includes works from baroque time to modern music. He made the first performance of “Kyrie” by Jan Wincenty Hawel at recital in “Atma” during Karol Szymanowski’s Festival in Zakopane in 2003
