Employees

ad. dr hab.

Katarzyna Ewa Sokołowska

piano chamber music

Dr. hab. Katarzyna Ewa Sokołowska is a pianist, chamber musician, pedagogue, and organizer of artistic, educational, and scholarly events. She graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, where she studied piano under Prof. Jan Ekier and Prof. Alicja Paleta-Bugaj, and chamber music under Prof. Maja Nosowska. In the field of chamber music, she completed postgraduate and concert studies (Konzertexamen) with distinction in the piano duo class of Hans-Peter and Volker Stenzl at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock (Germany). She also holds a Master’s degree from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Opole.

For over 25 years, together with Agnieszka Kozło, she has formed the Ravel Piano Duo—one of Poland’s leading piano duos, awarded numerous prizes and performing extensively in Poland, Europe, and Asia. The ensemble’s wide-ranging repertoire includes works for four hands and two pianos from the Baroque period to contemporary music. The duo has premiered numerous works and released several recordings. In recent years, their activity has focused on Polish piano duet repertoire, including research, editing, performance, and recording. This work is reflected in the ongoing recording series A Polish Kaleidoscope. In 2020, the duo made the first complete recording of works for piano four hands by Zygmunt Noskowski.

Alongside her artistic and research activity, she is actively engaged in pedagogy, teaching chamber music at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music and piano and chamber music at the Chopin State Music School Complex in Warsaw. From 2006 to 2024, she worked as a pianist at the Vocal Department of the university, and between 2008 and 2010 she also collaborated with its Piano Department. She is regularly invited to serve on juries of national and international competitions and gives masterclasses in musical interpretation. Her students have received numerous awards and distinctions.

For many years, she has been affiliated with the Jerzy Heller International Music Courses Society, serving as Vice-President and coordinating the organizational and artistic aspects of the International Music Courses in Opole. Since 2020, she has also been a board member of the Polish Chamber Musicians Association.

MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS

Recordings (with Ravel Piano Duo):

• A Polish Kaleidoscope. Piano works for 4 hands (DUX, 2015) – Fryderyk Award 2016
• A Polish Kaleidoscope 2 (DUX, 2017) – Fryderyk nomination 2018
• A Polish Kaleidoscope 3 (DUX, 2019)
• A Polish Kaleidoscope 4 (Chopin University Press, 2025)
• Complete works for piano duet by Zygmunt Noskowski (3CD) – Fryderyk nomination 2021, Muzyczne Orły Award 2022

Other recordings:

• Brahms. Mendelssohn Musica Sacra Edition – Fryderyk Award 2006
• Paweł Łukaszewski – Musica Sacra 1
• Władysław Żeleński – Complete Songs (Fryderyk Award 2024, partial participation)

PUBLICATIONS

• “Polish Piano Duet Repertoire in the 19th Century,” in Chamber Music – Artistic, Educational and Social Values(2019)
• Online publication: Piano Duo in Polish Music of the 20th and 21st Centuries – Catalogue of Works (2020)

EDITORIAL WORK (SCORES)

Includes editions of works by Zygmunt Noskowski, Maurycy Moszkowski, Józef Elsner, Fryderyk Chopin (arr. Karol Mikuli), and others (Eufonium Publishing).

JURY MEMBERSHIPS

• International Schubert Piano Duo Competition (Czech Republic)
• International Piano Duo Competition “Duettissimo” (Kraków)
• National Piano Duo Competition “Quattro Mani”
• CEA Competition “Muzyczna Jesień” (Chair of Jury)
• International Piano Duo Competition in Ełk

ARTISTIC & SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATION

• International Music Courses in Opole
• Polish Piano Duo Forum (UMFC)
• Silesian Summer Music Festival
• Co-organization of the conference Roman Palester’s Absolute Hearing

AWARDS

• Awards of the Director of the Centre for Art Education (2013, 2023)
• Creative Scholarship of the Ministry of Culture (2020)
• Rector’s Award of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music (2020)
• Musical Eagles Award (2022)
• Medal for Merit to the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music (2023)