Maria Włoszczowska, violin
and Jeremy Denk, piano

Wednesday, June 8, 2022 at 7:30 PM ET
Kaufmann Concert Hall/Online
The 92nd Street Y, New York

1395 Lexington Avenue
between 91st & 92nd street
New York, NY 10128
Tickets from $20  

Program:
J.S. Bach, Six Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard, BWV 1014-1019

World-renowned pianist and MacArthur “Genius” Grant recipient Jeremy Denk joins us with violin sensation and 2018 Bach International Violin Competition winner Maria Włoszczowska.

Jeremy Denk and Maria Włoszczowska will perform Bach’s intimate and wondrous Six Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard – music that was presented in the historical chamber music series Mendelssohn organized in Leipzig, and also in Fanny Mendelssohn’s salons. Denk, who regularly collaborates with several of today’s premier violinists, believes Włoszczowska to be one of the instrument’s most exciting young artists. She makes her NY debut with this concert.

Włoszczowska’s playing in The Lark Ascending was easy and relaxed, and the winding figures rising to the first high melodic statement were natural and effortless, with a singing, pure tone at the top. […] Włoszczowska made dotted rising rhythms dance, and her solo finish had the perfect combination of controlled precision and joyful freedom. ‘Spring has Sprung’ concert, RNS with Paul McCreesh —Nick Boston, Bachtrack, 03/05/2021

The concert is part of the Bach-Mendelssohn Connection, a ten-day festival of concerts and salons presented by 92^ndStreet Y that will explore the unexpected or hidden connections between Johann Sebastian Bach and Felix Mendelssohn. The festival will feature Jeremy Denk, Steven Isserlis, the Emerson String Quartet, and more. The festival is the vision of Hanna Arie-Gaifman. “This festival seeks to discover lesser-known connections between two composers from different eras,” said Hanna Arie-Gaifman, Director Emeritus, Tisch Center for the Arts, 92Y. “The salons pay tribute to two seldom recognized salonieres – Sara Levi and Fanny Mendelssohn – musicians, composers and performers of rare quality who created the intimate human musical experiences we all crave these days.” 

Polish violinist Maria Włoszczowska is recognized for her versatile musicianship, performing as soloist, director/concertmaster, and chamber musician.

Maria gave her debut recital at the Wigmore Hall in 2016 with pianist Alasdair Beatson, who has since become a frequent duo partner, and she appeared there last season both in recital and chamber music concerts, as well as featuring in several BBC Radio 3 broadcasts.  She performs regularly at international festivals such as Musikdorf Ernen in Switzerland, Lammermuir Festival, IMS Prussia Cove, Festival Resonances in Belgium and Enghien International Musical Encounters as well as a residency at Yellow Barn, Vermont. Distinguished artists such as Jeremy Denk, Bengt Forsberg and Dinis Sousa have joined her in recital and other chamber music partners have included Thomas Adès, Philippe Graffin, Benjamin Grosvenor, Steven Isserlis, Steven Osborne, Hyeyoon Park, Timothy Ridout and the Doric String Quartet.

Ravel’s 1927 Violin Sonata featured a notable star from last week, SCO guest leader Maria Włoszczowska, this time in duo partnership with Edinburgh pianist Peter Evans. She cuts a charismatically unpretentious presence on stage, authoritative yet compliant, incisive in gesture but eliciting a natural expressive warmth. The dissonant pokes of humour that gently infiltrate the silken fluidity and filigree detail of the opening movement did so with infectious charm. SCO, Ravel, Debussy & Milhaud —Ken Walton, VoxCarnyx, 06/11/2020

Recent seasons have seen solo appearances with UK and international ensembles, including the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, Concerto Budapest, Pauliner Barockensemble as well as symphonic and chamber orchestras in her home country of Poland. In June 2021 she was appointed Leader of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, with whom she directs a number of programs; this season she also undertakes projects as a guest leader of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.

Recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Emily Anderson Prize, the Hattori Foundation Senior Award and Poland’s Minister of Culture and National Heritage Prize, she based herself in the UK after completing her studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Hungarian violinist and conductor András Keller. In 2018 she won both First Prize and Audience Prize at the XXI Leipzig International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition.

Maria plays on a violin by Tomasso Balestrieri.