antarja

antarja

Antarja Quartet

Established in 2009 in Krakow, the ensemble for fifteen years of its activity has performed over 100 concerts, most of which promoted Polish chamber music at international festivals in, e.g. Austria, Germany, Italy, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Iran, the Netherlands and Denmark. In their repertoire, the artists, in addition to classical chamber music pieces, boldly reach for contemporary music. On a number of occasions, they have performed as world premieres of both Polish and foreign composers.

Until 2013, the ensemble studied under the direction of the DAFÔ String Quartet. In 2017, the quartet completed postgraduate studies in Chamber Music at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna under the supervision of Prof. Johannes Meissl and Vida Vujić, MA. The Quartet improved their skills with these two distinguished individuals for 3 years. After winning the 1st prize at the 3rd Chamber Music Tournament in Bydgoszcz in 2016, the ensemble recorded their debut album featuring string quartets by Felix Mendelssohn and Krzysztof Penderecki. The next album was released in 2017, a recording of a con­cert held as part of the ‘40th Days of Macedonian Music Festival. The next CD was released in 2020 – a live recording of a concert under the festival ‘7 Trends + 7 Premieres = 70 Years of the Polish Composers’ Union’ featuring Polish music under the theme ‘Reduction.’ The most recent one was released in 2023 with string quartets by a marriage of composers: Grażyna and Andrzej Krzanowski. The album is entitled KRZANOWSCY and includes world premieres. In 2021 the ensemble was awarded 1st prize at the 7th ODIN International Music Competition.

The ensemble has participated in masterclasses led by members of the Belcea Quartet, the Shanghai Quartet, the Apollon Musagète Quartet, the Melos Quartet, and the Quatuor Diotima, among others. In 2013, the quartet also worked under the direction of Prof. Krzysztof Penderecki, performing his String Quartet No. 3 ‘Leaves from an Unwritten Diary’. The Antarja Quartet has received support from the Adam Mickiewicz Institute three times under the ‘Polish Culture Worldwide’ programme; in 2021, it was awarded the ‘Young Poland’ scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. The ensemble was awarded and is participating in the 3-year international MERITA programme for outstanding European string quartets.

The quartet’s name, an anagram of the Polish word “jantar”, which means amber, is a nod to a mineral abundant in the Baltic Sea region. Amber, often referred to as “Polish gold,” is associated with nature’s artistry and mystical properties, evoking the image of a precious treasure.

  

Barbara Mglej

Violinist, chamber musician and performer of contemporary music. She graduated with honours from the Academy of Music in Kraków, having studied in the class led by Prof. Kaja Danczowska. She perfected her skills in masterclasses given by Jan Stanienda, Grigori Zhyslin, and Krzysztof Jakowicz. In 2014–2017 she studied chamber music with the Antarja Quartet at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, under Prof. Johannes Meissl and Vida Vujic.

She gives concerts in Poland and abroad. Her two passions are chamber music and performing new music. 

Her fascination with contemporary music began in 2013, upon joining the German-Polish project European Workshop for Contemporary Music, assembled for the 56th International Festival of Contemporary Music ‘Warsaw Autumn’. That fruitful cooperation translated into her being invited to the EWCM twice more: in 2014 she participated in workshops during the 47th International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt, and in the following year she took part in courses in Cologne. Over that period, she developed her skills working with members of Kwartludium, Ensemble Garage, and Ensemble Modern.

Since 2014 she has been a member of Spółdzielnia Muzyczna contemporary ensemble, with whom she has performed at the most important international festivals in Poland, such as the Warsaw Autumn, Sacrum Profanum, MUSICA MODERNA, the Festival of Traditional and Avant-garde Music KODY, the Audio Art Festival, ELEMENTI, NeoArte, and opera rara. In 2018, with the ensemble, she participated in courses run by ensemble recherche as part of Ensemble-Akademie Freiburg. The band was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Ensemble Prize for the 2021/2022 season.

In 2021 she received the ‘Młoda Polska’ (Young Poland) scholarship, thanks to which the album “Krzanowscy” was created. In the same year, she also received the Creative Scholarship of the City of Krakow, which she used to record the first fully independent album of the Music Cooperative, for which the band was nominated for the Fryderyk Award in 2022 in the Contemporary Music Album of the Year category.

She is currently tied to the orchestra of the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Krakow.

Maria Nowak

Maria Nowak graduated with honours from Jadwiga Kaliszewska Secondary Music School in 2013. She studied there in the class of Professor Marcin Baranowski and Jan Romanowski. Five years later she graduated with honours from Ignacy Jan Paderewski Music Academy (Poznan, Poland) under the tutelage of Professor Marcin Baranowski and Joanna Kreft.

During those years, she was a member of chamber ensembles that were awarded at many national and international competitions: honourable mention at XII Strings Chamber Competition Grażyna Bacewicz in memoriam (Lodz, Poland), 3rd prize at National Chamber Auditions (Warsaw, Poland), Grand Prix at International Chamber Competition (Barletta, Italy), and Finalist diploma at International Stasys Vainiunas Chamber Competition (Vilnius, Lithuania). She was also awarded a prestigious Rector’s Scholarship for the best students.

Maria Nowak participated in numerous Masterclasses with prominent violin teachers, such as Agata Szymczewska, Piotr Tarcholik, Bartłomiej Nizioł, Monika Urbaniak – Lisik and Andrej Bielow. Furthermore, gained her orchestral experience both in Poland and abroad. Performed at the International Festival “Karol Szymanowski – the artist who was ahead of his time” (Beijing, China) and Kintai Music Festival (Kintai, Lithuania). In 2017 Maria became a member of the Orchestra Academy at the National Forum of Music (Wroclaw, Poland). From September 2018 Maria Nowak was a Sinfonia Iuventus Polish Orchestra violinist. She is currently tied to the orchestra of the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic in Szczecin. Since 2021 she has been a member of the Antarja Quartet.

Magdalena Chmielowiec-Kozioł

Viola player, doctor of arts, and cultural manager. Co-founder of the Antarja Quartet. Magdalena performs concerts with both modern and baroque violas and is currently associated with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra in Örebro.

Born in Kraków and graduated from the viola class of Prof. Dr. Janusz Pisarski and Dr. Aneta Dumanowska at the Academy of Music in Kraków. Her academic work focuses on solo viola works by composers like György Ligeti and György Kurtág. She also shares her knowledge on this topic through her YouTube channel VIOLA100%. From 2017 to 2021, she taught solo viola at the Academy of Music in Krakow. She further developed her skills at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where she studied chamber music with Professor Johannes Meissl and M.A. Vida Vujic, as well as in Graz in the viola class of Professor Matthias Maurer. 

She received, among others, a distinction in the Second Competition for Young Viola Players in Wrocław (2005), and a special prize in the 14th International Competition for Viola, in Bled (Slovenia 2012). She was also a semi-finalist in the 4th Michał Spisak International Music Competition in Dąbrowa Górnicza (2010). In 2021, she was awarded the ‘Young Poland’ Scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage and in 2020 the ‘Culture on the Web’ Scholarship. Additionally, she has been the recipient of scholarships from the Sapere Auso Scholarship Foundation of Malopolska and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. 

Since 2012, she has been a co-founder of early music ensembles such as Il Giardino d’Amore and Cappella di Ospedale della Pietà. These ensembles have performed at renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York. She has also collaborated with esteemed musical organisations including Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense of the Warsaw Chamber Opera, Orchester 1756, Contrasto Armonico, and the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles (Royal Opera House of Versailles, Paris). 

Martyna Sołtys

Cellist born in Krakow, she graduated from the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in 2017. She is currently a member of the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic Orchestra in Krakow and has been co-creating the Antarja Quartet since 2018. In 2020, thanks to the “Young Poland” scholarship from the Minister of Culture and Science, she recorded an album featuring string quartets by Grażyna and Andrzej Krzanowski.

She has refined her cello skills under the guidance of renowned masters such as Frans Helmerson, Konstantin Heidrich, Alexander Gebert, Paul Katz, and Desmond Hoebig. In 2012, she participated in the Morningside Music Bridge program in Canada, which supports young instrumentalists from around the world. She also attended the Summer Music Academy in Lusławice (2019) and Szczecin Classic Academy (2021).

She is a laureate of several competitions, including 3rd place at the Juliusz Zarębski International Music Competition (2014). She has collaborated with ensembles like the Young Polish Philharmonic, Polish Orchestra Sinfonia Iuventus, and the Beethoven Academy Orchestra. As a chamber musician, she has toured the Czech Republic, Austria, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Ukraine.

repertoire

  • H. Purcell – Fantasia No.5, No.6, No.7

  • G. P. Telemann – Concerto G-dur

  • G. Tartini – String Quartet No.1 in D major (Sonata a quattro)

  • J. Haydn – String Quartet Op.20 No.5 in F minor (Hob. III:35)

  • J. Haydn – String Quartet Op.33 No.5 in G major (Hob. III:41)

  • J. Haydn – String Quartet Op.64 No.5 in D major (Hob. III:63)

  • J. Haydn – String Quartet Op.77 No.1 in G major (Hob. III:81)

  • W. A. Mozart – String Quartet No.19 in C major, K.465 “Dissonance”

  • W. A. Mozart – Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K.525

  • L. van Beethoven – String Quartet Op.18 No.3 in D major

  • L. van Beethoven – String Quartet Op.18 No.6 in B flat major

  • L. van Beethoven – String Quartet Op.59 No.1 “Razumovsky” in F major

  • L. van Beethoven – String Quartet Op.95 No.11 “Quartetto serioso” in F minor

  • F. Schubert – Quartett-Satz, op. posth.

  • F. Schubert – String Quartet No. 14 „Der Tod und das Mädchen”

  • F. Mendelssohn – String Quartet No.2 in A minor, Op.13

  • J. Brahms – String Quartet No.2 in A minor, Op.51

  • J. Brahms – Hungarian Dances No.1, No.5

  • A. Borodin – String Quartet No.1 in A major

  • A. Borodin – String Quartet No.2 in D major

  • W. Żeleński – Variations Op.21 on an Original Theme for String Quartet

  • E. Grieg – String Quartet in G minor, Op.27

  • Z. Stojowski – Variations and Fugue, Op.6

  • M. Ravel – String Quartet in F major

  • M. Ravel – Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet and String Quartet

  • K. Szymanowski – String Quartet No.1 in C major, Op.37

  • B. Bartok – Romanian Folk Dances

  • B. Bartok – String Quartet No.6, Sz.114

  • J. Mandić – String Quartet

  • D. Shostakovich – String Quartet No.8 in C minor, Op.110

  • Z. Krauze – String Quartet No.2 (1970)

  • M. Górecki – Dusk is falling. Music for String Quartet (String Quartet No.1) Op.62 (1988)

  • S. Gubaidulina – String Quartet No.4 (1993)

  • K. Penderecki – String Quartet No.3 Pages of an Unwritten Diary (2008)

  • D. Wilson – Hungarian Folk Songs for String Quartet (2008)

  • Z. Jabri – Quintet for English Horn and String Quartet (2012; Quintet dedicated to Antarja Quartet)

  • A. Grego – Preludio

  • A. Grego – L’ascolto dello spazio… Gropina for String Quartet (2013)

  • A. Grego – Burnt Norton (*2024)

  • Z. Konieczny – Wiersz for String Quartet (2016)

  • D. Andovska – Illuminations (2001)

  • J. Andreevska – Am I a falcon, a storm, or an unending song? (2015)

  • B. Jež-Brezavšček – Chain for String Quartet

  • L. M. Čuperjani – Strinx for String Quartet

  • I. Stefanović – Play Strindberg for String Quartet (1993)

  • V. Velkovska-Trajanovska – The Transfiguration for String Quartet (2006)

  • I. Žebeljan – Polomka quartet (2009/11)

  • O. Ağır – Trio

  • O. Ağır – Quintetto con bağlama (*2020)

  • * – premiere