About
Kinga Wojdalska is the first Polish prizewinner in the prestigious, Primrose International Viola Competition in the United States. In addition to winning the esteemed second prize, she was also awarded for her brilliant performance of her own transcription of Grazyna Bacewicz’s Polish Capriccio.
Wojdalska is a violist, performing as both a soloist and a chamber musician. In 2022, she made the European premiere of John Williams' Viola Concerto with the Dohnanyi Budafok Orchestra conducted by Gábor Hollerung. The premiere took place at the Müpa Concert Hall in Budapest.
Kinga has extensive musical and stage experience, reflected in her successes in numerous national and international competitions, including 1st place at the Bach Solo Competition in 2020 and the Karl Doktor Prize at the Lionel Tertis Competition in 2019. In 2024 she has been recognised for her artistic achievements by region Błędów, Poland.
She is dedicated to discovering and promoting lesser-known musical compositions. In 2023, she gave the Romanian premiere of Miklós Rózsa's Viola Concerto with the Târgu Mureş Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Marc Kissoczy. Another of her interests lies in showcasing viola as a solo instrument, especially through 20th and 21st century music. In 2024, she performed the Swiss premiere of Zwei Szenen by Elena Mendoza, conducted by Mariano Chiacchiarini and accompanied by the Arc-en-Ciel Ensemble.
Kinga is a proud Varsovian. She completed her school education in Poland with a diploma from the Zenon Brzewski Music School in Warsaw, where she studied under the legendary Polish violist Stefan Kamasa. She continued her education abroad, earning her bachelor's degree in 2021 from the Royal College of Music in London in the class of Nathan Braude. In 2023, she obtained her master's degree in solo performance from the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste. Kinga is continuing her studies in Zurich under Lawrence Power and Sergey Malov. During the 2023/24 concert season, she participated in the Sinfonieorchester Basel orchestra academy.
Kinga has received multiple scholarships for her artistic achievements, including the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship, Countess of Munster Musical Trust, Bruno Schuler Stiftung, Lyra Stiftung, to name a few. In 2017, she received a scholarship to attend the one-month Morningside Music Bridge programme in Boston, where she studied under Teng Li, Yu Jin, Ori Kam, and Kim Kashkashian. This experience helped her develop her musical versatility and inspired her to pursue international studies.
Kinga's musical journey has been enriched by her collaborations with some of the most renowned musicians of our time, including Gidon Kremer, Viktoria Mullova, and Steven Isserlis. She performed the stages of prestigious concert halls, such as the Musikverein in Vienna, the Royal Festival Hall in London, and the Tonhalle in Zurich. She has also been a part of esteemed music festivals like Krzyżowa Music, West Wycombe Chamber Music Festival, Encuentro de Santander, Rome Chamber Music Festival, and many others.
Kinga's commitment to continuous learning is evident in her regular attendance at music courses and viola masterclasses, such as IMS Prussia Cove, Verbier Festival Academy and Villars Music Academy. She has had the privilege of learning from acclaimed violists such as Tabea Zimmermann, Nobuko Imai and Maxim Rysanov, to mention a few.
Chamber music holds a special place in Kinga's musical career. From 2020 to 2023, she was a member of the award-winning Brompton Quartet. Together, they made their debut at London's renowned Wigmore Hall. Kinga also worked with the Collegium Orchestra under Lawrence Power, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Julian Rachlin, and the LGT Young Soloists under Alexander Gilman. In 2016, she co-founded the Polish ensemble Kameralna N - Harmonia, and is currently a founding member of the Veress Trio.
Kinga is profoundly dedicated to developing the viola repertoire for viola solo, and premiering new chamber music pieces. In 2022 a Polish composer Anna Dobrucka (*1989) dedicated a solo viola piece ‘L’etica dell’ambiguità’, which she premiered later that year in Zurich. Kinga encourages other contemporary composers to write and arrange for viola. She is currently working on her debut solo CD including polish music of the 20th century, which will include some of her own arrangements.
The violist has recorded couple of albums of contemporary chamber music. Her recording of Noah Max's string trio ‘Sojourn’ can be found on the album ‘Songs of Loneliness’. In 2024 alongside with the UNLTD Collective, she recorded a new album featuring Gabriel Prokofiev's music.
Kinga is generously supported by Thomastik-Infeld strings, and a scholarship holder of the Marian & Zofia Kirsch Stiftung for the 2024/25 academic year. Since 2024 Kinga has been an active member of the outreach organisation Live Music Now Switzerland. She plays a contemporary viola made by luthier Jerzy Maślanka.
'She is a wonderfully dynamic player, bringing real zest to whom is often a more timid voice in the quartet. There is nothing timid about Kinga Wojdalska. Instead she became the dramatic heart around which the others revolved: one to watch in every sense.'
- Simon Mundy, Lerici Festival
'Sensitive, gracious, brilliant, sincerely passionate
viola playing.'
- Michael Kimber, composer