Emerald String Quartet
Anna Czermak
Graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, where she studied violin under Professor Julia Jakimowicz-Jakowicz and Professor Jakub Jakowicz. She is a laureate and finalist of numerous violin and chamber music competitions, including: the S. Hajzer Bach Competition in Zielona Góra (1st Prize), the G. Bacewicz National Chamber Ensemble Competition in Łódź (1st Prize), the Bohdan Warchal International Competition in Slovakia (3rd Prize in the Violin category and 1st Prize in the Duo category), the I. Dubiska National Violin Interpretation Competition in Łódź (3rd Prize), and the “Musical Personality” award at the 2nd International Master Music Festival in Piła. She participated in music courses in Łańcut, Janowiec, Darłowo, and the Music Festival & Masterclass in Piła, under Professors Jan Stanienda and Bartłomiej Nizioł.
Collaboration with the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra gave her the opportunity to work with the most distinguished conductors, during joint concerts in Poland and abroad, as well as on CD recordings.
These included conductors: Jerzy Maksymiuk, Michał Nesterowicz, Christopher Warren-Green, Michael Kortez, Jacek Kaspszyk, Marc Minkowski, Jean Jacques Kantorow, and soloists: Khatia Buniatishvili, Ann Sophie-Mutter, Ivo Pogorelic, Augustin Dumay, Boris Berezovsky, Nikolai Lugansky, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Janusz Olejniczak, and Krzysztof Jakowicz. Currently, he serves as deputy concertmaster at the Wrocław Opera.
Aleksandra Bugaj
A violinist and vocalist, a graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw in the violin class of Prof. Julia Jakowicz. She was a Socrates-Erasmus scholarship holder, under which she studied for a year at the Universität Der Künste Berlin in the class of Prof. T. Tomaszewski. Permanently associated with the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, she also regularly collaborates with the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra. A versatile artist, as Ola Bugaj, she writes and records her own songs and performs in music clubs in Wrocław and Warsaw with the Ola Bugaj Trio. She has performed at the Song of the Goat Theatre in Wrocław and co-created the theater performance “Enchanted Wings” in collaboration with the NFM Wrocław. She has also collaborated with the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw, the Młynarski/Masecki Jazzband, the Stoklosa Collective Orchestra, the Mała Orkiestra Dancingowa, and numerous festival orchestras in Poland and abroad. Currently, she plays and sings in the pop-folk project “Staszek z Gór” (Staszek from the Mountains) led by Staszek Karpiel-Bułecki, with whom she performs throughout Poland. Her orchestral and chamber music career has taken her to almost all of Europe, including Japan, Korea, China, Venezuela, and Dubai.
Natalia Czerska-Kacprzak
Violist, graduated at the Royal College of Music in London in 2009 (BHons), and MMus from the Music Academy in Lodz Poland. Natalia is a freelance musician playing with many Polish symphony and chamber orchestras. Natalia is a laureate of the Intercollegiate International Chamber Music Competition at Trinity College in London in 2009 and Ealing Music Viola Festival UK. She participated in many music courses including Julian Lloyd Webber, Levon Chilingirian and Dona Lee Croft.
Jacek Francuz
Was born in Rybnik in 1990. After graduating from the Karol and Antoni Szafranek Primary and Secondary Music School in Rybnik in the cello class of Leon Mielimąka, he began his studies at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław in the class of Prof. Stanisław Firlej and Dr. Marcin Misiak. He honed his skills at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen in the cello class of Prof. Alexander Baillie. Apart from solo playing, he also developed his experience in chamber music by studying at the Hochschule für Music Theater und Medien Hannover in the chamber music class of Prof. Oliver Wille. Jacek Francuski is a winner of awards at national and international solo and chamber music competitions, including the 5th International Prochaska Cello Festival in Košice (Slovakia), the National Chamber Ensemble Competition named after G. Bacewicz in Łódź, Pietro Argento International Music Competition in Gioia Del Colle (Italy), and the Recital Competition as part of the International Music Courses in Żagań. He has also participated in courses and festivals, including the Idyllwild Summer Program (California, United States), the Princess Daisy Ensemble International Chamber Music Festival at Książ Castle in Wałbrzych, the “Heidelberger Frühling” Music Festival (Heidelberg, Germany), and the Internationaler Kammermusik Sommerakademie in Frenswegen (Nordhorn, Germany). The cellist has also participated in numerous youth orchestral projects (including the I’ Culture Orchestra and the European Philharmonic Orchestra), giving concerts in Europe and the United States. He has also collaborated with, among others, with orchestras such as the Leopoldinum Chamber Orchestra, the Aukso Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy, the University Philharmonic in Wrocław, and the Ricordanza Soloists’ Ensemble. Jacek Francuski is currently the deputy concertmaster of the cello group at the Wrocław Opera.
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