MAŁGORZATA SKORUPA

MAŁGORZATA SKORUPA has participated in the Festival several times. She is a graduate of the S. Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk, where she studied violin in the class of Prof. Henryk Keszkowski. To further her skills, she took courses in violin performance in Austria, Italy, and Hungary. She cooperated with orchestras of Gdańsk, in particularly with the Baltic Opera Orchestra, where she was the concert master in the season of 1991/92. In 1996 she obtained qualifications level one, and in 2002 – qualifications level two at the Academy of Music in Gdańsk. Today, she a professor at her home academy of music and a teacher at the Primary and Secondary School of General and Musical Education in Gdańsk. In the school year of 2007/2008 she took the position of a teacher at the Music School Complex in Gdynia. Her pupils and students have won national and international competitions, and have been distinguished with scholarships by the President of the Republic of Poland, the Minister of Culture and Art, the Mayor of Gdańsk, and the BGŻ bank, they have also received support from the Polish Children’s Fund. They have given concerts in Poland and abroad, participated in CD recordings and radio broadcasts. M. Skorupa has given lectures, seminars, and numerous methodological consultations at music schools all around Poland. She has sat on the juries of many international, national, and regional competitions and reviews. She performs as a solosit and member of chamber ensembles. She has given a number of first performances of compositions by Polish composers. Her broad repertoire includes standard compositions written for the violin solo and for the violin and the piano, as well as many pieces by contemporary composers. She has recorded for the Polish Radio together with pianist Andrzej Siarkiewicz, and made CD recordings with guitarist Adam Matysek. In 2006 she joined the Duo Sopot ensemble (Anna Sawicka – cello, Elżbieta Rosińska – accordion), which thus transformed into Trio Sopot. The ensemble’s repertoire includes original pieces written for the trio of this specific composition (by Gubajdulina, Valpola, Murto) and arrangements; in addition, the ensemble orders music from contemporary composers. As of 2017 she has been the Vice Rector at her home academy of music.

BOGUSŁAW GRABOWSKI

BOGUSŁAW GRABOWSKI was born in 1955 in Sopot. The organist and composer is a professor at Music Academy in Gdańsk. He is the author of curriculum at the Faculty of Church Music. Furthermore, he teaches organ playing and improvisation. Moreover, he gives lectures at numerous theological universities. He has been the chief organist at the St. Mary’s Co-cathedral Basilica in Gdańsk since 1985. His activities have included organisation of about 800 concerts in Pomerania. He’s the director of the Gdańsk International Organ, Choir & Chamber Music Festival. As an active musician, he performs both in Poland and abroad (Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, the USA, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, and Russia). He recorded numerous CDs including Polish, German, and American organ music, his own compositions (featuring choirs and symphonic orchestras), as well as improvisations. Not only is he an outstanding organist, composer, and improviser, but also he specialises in organ designing, building, and renovation. In recognition of his work, he was awarded numerous prizes and commendations.