Aleksandra Czajor-Kowalska
1st violin
Her violin education started in Fryderyk Chopin Music School in Opole at the age of 6 where she studied for 12 years under guidance of prof. Danuta Sujata and prof. Janusz Gajownik. In 2007 she got accepted for bachelor’s and master's studies at the Academy of Music in Cracow in prof. Piotr Tarcholik violin class and graduated with distinctions in 2012. She continued her education at the ArtEZ Conservatorium Zwolle in class of prof. Jeroen Reuling and prof. Sarah Kapustin, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna in class of prof. Johannes Meissl, Royal Conservatory Antwerp in class of prof. Tatiana Samouil and prof. Benjamin Braude and at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice in class of prof. Piotr Szumieł. She also attended a number of chamber music, solo and orchestra masterclasses in Poland and abroad.
In 2019 Aleksandra completed her 3 years of doctoral studies at the Academy of Music in Cracow and achieved a Doctor of Arts tittle with a doctoral thesis theme of Karl Amadeus Hartmann – an inner emigration of the composer. The expression and musical language of works from the nazi era based on examples of the Concerto Funebre for violin and orchestra and string quartets. Together with the string orchestra lead by prof. Piotr Tarcholik she recorded as soloist Hartmanns Concerto Funebre and she realised a CD album with his two string quartets recorded by Airis String Quartet. This cd album was a Polish phonographic premiere of Hartmanns music and achieved very enthusiastic rewievs .
Aleksandra Czajor-Kowalska is a laureate of many artistic scholarships including Sapere Auso, Young Poland scholarship of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Agrafka Muzyczna, Złota Spinka, Windish Kammermusik Preis to name a few. She also achieved several national artistic grants like Artist in residence or Composition orders. In her bio one can find many competition achievements as well. The most important are: 3rd prize at the XXXI Bach National Competion in Zielona Góra, Finalist tittle of the VI International Contemporary Music Competition in Radziejowice, 2nd prize at the International Contemporary Chamber Music Competition in Cracow, 3rd prize at the International Music Competition in Malta, Special prize for the best performance of the XXth century repertoire at the Karol Szymanowski International String Quartet Competition in Katowice and Special prize for the best performance of the piece composed by Krzysztof Penderecki at the II Ludvig van Beethoven International Chamber Music Competition in Lusławice.
Aleksandra Czajor-Kowalska is a very driven and versatile artist. Her passion and love for chamber music finds great fulfilment in Airis String Quartet which she founded and leads with commitment since 2008. As an open-minded and curious artist she takes up new challenges eagerly while entering chamber music projects with different musicians or co-operating with chamber and symphonic orchestras. She has a substantial experience in a role of the concert master leading chamber orchestra without conductor during years of active collaboration with Przemyśl Chamber Orchestra where she occasionally performed as a soloist too. In the past years she also played as a guest player in significant Polish orchestras e.g. National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, AUKSO chamber orchestra, Sinfonietta Cracovia, Beethoven Academy Orchestra where she worked under prominent conductors like Sir Neville Mariner, Gabriel Chmura, Jacek Kasprzyk, Jerzy Maksymiuk or Łukasz Borowicz, recorded plenty of CD albums and performed in Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Switzerland, England, Belgium, Austria, Czech Republic, Sweden, Denmark, China and USA.
Aleksandra successfully splits her time between performing and teaching. Mentoring the upcoming generation of musicians is highly inspiring and important to her. Since 2017 Aleksandra is employed at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice in a chamber music department and since 2013 she is a violin and chamber music teacher in the primary and secondary music school - currently at the Fryderyk Chopin Music School in Opole. Being an actively performing musician herself and working with young musicians of various education levels from the age of 6 till 26, gives her a wide perspective of their needs, challenges as well as interests, and possibilities. It makes her look at the educational process as a long-term, responsible task to sow sensibility and love for music and self- development. She is doing her best to be an promotor of chamber music practice for primary and secondary schools whilst encouraging teachers and students to find joy and inspiration in collective music making.