Employees

prof.

Konstanty Andrzej Kulka

violin

He was born in Gdańsk. His father was a singer in the choir of the Baltic Opera, and his mother was a pianist-tutor for soloists in that theater.

He began learning to play the violin at the age of eight with Ludwik Gbiorczyk, being a student of the 3rd grade of Primary School no. 14 in Gdańsk, in Siedlce. He performed for the first time in public, at the age of 12 - on November 15, 1959 in a music high school in Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz, with a concert - recital, during which he performed works by Mozart, Młynarski, and Corelli. The proceeds from this recital were used to build 1,000 schools.

He continued his education at the State Secondary Music School with one of the most outstanding Polish violin teachers, Stefan Herman, and then studied in his class at the State Higher School of Music in Gdańsk. As a 17-year-old student, he performed for the first time with a symphony orchestra and received a diploma with special distinction at the International Violin Competition. Niccolò Paganini in Genoa.

The turning point of his career was his victory in 1966 at the International German Radio Competition ARD in Munich. He has performed in both hemispheres (all European countries, USA, South America, Japan, Australia). From 1968 he performed in a duet with Jerzy Marchwiński and also practiced chamber music with Stefan Kamasa, Roman Jabłoński and Jerzy Marchwiński as a member of the Polish Radio and Television Quartet. On March 26, 1971, he obtained a university diploma with a very good result with the highest distinction.

Since 1994 he has been a professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and a lecturer at master classes. Visiting professor at the Academy of Music in Gdańsk.

He sits on the jury in many prestigious violin competitions, incl. in 2006 in the International Violin Competition Joseph Joachim and many times as the chairman and member of the International Competition for Young Violinists Karol Lipiński and Henryk Wieniawski in Lublin and the International Violin Competition Henryk Wieniawski in Poznań

He has performed over 2,000 recitals and concerts with orchestras around the world. He played with famous orchestras, performed at festivals in Lucerne, Bordeaux, Berlin, Brighton, Prague, Barcelona and others. He has made many CD, radio and television recordings. He also practiced chamber music, participates in the performance and recordings of Polish contemporary music. He takes part in numerous foreign tours with Polish orchestras. He is mainly associated with the National Philharmonic. He collaborated, among others with Berliner Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, London Symphony, English Chamber.

His repertoire includes works from the Baroque period to Romanticism, from Antonio Vivaldi to Witold Lutosławski, Krzysztof Penderecki (Violin Concerto No. 1), and Henryk Hubertus Jabłoński.

Badges:

• Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (October 17, 2001),

• Golden Cross of Merit (1974),

• Order Ecce Homo (2014).

Awards and distinctions:

• 1964 - distinction at the International Competition of N. Paganini in Genoa,

• 1966 - First Prize at the International Radio Competition in Munich,

• 1969 - Awards of the Minister of Culture and Art, 3rd degree,

• 1973 - 2nd degree award of the Minister of Culture and Art for virtuoso achievements in violin playing,

• 1976 - award of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for outstanding services in promoting Polish culture

• 1981 - the Grand Prix du Disque award for the recording of two violin concertos by Karol Szymanowski for the EMI Studio,

• 1999 - Fryderyk award in the category: Early Music, for the album Antonio Vivaldi - Four Seasons (Konstanty Andrzej Kulka - violin, Prima Vista Quartet, Jerzy Dybał - double bass, Władysław Kłosiewicz - harpsichord), DUX,

• 2001 - Fryderyk Award in the category: Orchestral Music for the album Mieczysław KARŁOWICZ - Violin Concerto, Eternal Songs, Op. 10,

• 2002 - honorary citizen of the city of Wolbrom,

• 2002 - Fryderyk award in the category: Chamber Music, for the album Ignacy Jan Paderewski - Works for violin and piano (Konstanty Andrzej Kulka - violin, Waldemar Malicki - piano), DUX,

• 2007 - Awards of the Gdańsk Mayor in the field of culture,

• 2011 - Pomeranian Artistic Award for lifetime achievement,

• 2012 - Award of the Gdańsk President Neptune

• 2014 - Golden Fryderyk Award for lifetime achievement in music and contribution to the development of Polish music,

• 2017 - honorary doctorate of the Academy of Music in Gdańsk.