29.10.2023 - 12.11.2023 Events, Music

Cracow Duo Tour 2023

Sunday, October 29 at 5pm PT
Holocaust Museum LA
100 The Grove Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Tuesday, October 31 at 7pm ET
Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016

Friday, November 3 at 7:30pm PT
Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles
Park Ballroom, 1232 Park Street
Paso Robles, CA 93446

Monday, November 6 at 12pm {T
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
1008 Wall St
La Jolla, CA 92037

Tuesday, November 7 at 7PM
Steinway Piano Gallery
9222 Miramar Rd
San Diego CA 92126 

Thursday, November 9 at 1pm PT
Palomar Performing Arts Concert Hour
Howard Brubeck Theatre
1140 W Mission Rd
San Marcos, CA 92069

Saturday, November 11 at 7pm CT
Polish Museum of America
984 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60642

Sunday, November 12 at 3pm CT
The Deanery School of Music
1103 Main St.
Davenport, IA 52803

Known as the Cracow Duo, cellist Jan Kalinowski and pianist Marek Szlezer share a special commitment to and fascination with music written by rarely performed Polish composers.They tirelessly perform these works across the globe.The Cracow Duo returns to the U.S. for a tour with concerts in California, New York, and Chicago. Cracow Duo will perform works by Polish and Polish-Jewish composers including Fryderyk Chopin, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Zygmunt Stojowski, Marta Ptaszyńska, Aleksander Tansman, Roman Ryterband, Szymon Laks, Mieczysław Weinberg, Krzysztof Meyer, Krzesimir Dębski, and Marcel Chyrzyński.

Magazine “The Strad” wrote about the Cracow Duo: “Kalinowski and Szlezer, friends since childhood, have a wonderfully natural rapport and there is an arresting quality to their playing that gives life to the music”. They studied together in Cracow and Paris, and began to perform together as Cracow Duo twenty years ago. Since that time, their concerts and recordings received the highest critical acclaim in Poland and abroad. They performed on the most prestigious stages, including Seoul Arts Center in Seoul, Alfred Newman Hall in Los Angeles, Carnegie Hall in New York, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico, Salle Cortot in Paris, St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Cracow Duo concert tour is part of the Polish Music on Stage/U.S. edition project which is realized by the National Institute of Music, co-funded by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as part of the ‘Inspire Culture Programme’. Presented in partnership with the Polish Cultural Institute New York and Polish Music Center in Los Angeles.


Jan Kalinowski (born 1982) Studied at the Music Academy in Cracow, the École Normale de Musique in Paris and the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart under the guidance of Professors: Witold Herman, Paul Julien and Peter Buck. He has also taken part in master classes given by David Geringas, Ivan Monighetti and Arto Noras. He received scholarships from Polish and foreign foundations, as well as the City of Cracow, the Malopolska Region and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. He has recorded for radio and television, including the cello concertos by Witold Lutosławski (Lebanese National Orchestra, Azerbaijan State Philharmonic) and Marek Stachowski (Beethoven Academy Orchestra). As a solist he has been performing under the baton of many renowned conductors, such as: Rauf Abdullayev, Łukasz Borowicz, Wojciech Czepiel, Jacek Rafał Delekta, Jurek Dybał, Michał Dworzyński, Jacek Kasprzyk, Adam Klocek, Paweł Kotla, Paweł Przytocki, Daniel Rajskin, Jacek Rogala, Maciej Tworek, Alan Urbanek and Antoni Wit. He is Professor, he works at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow, where he holds his own cello class. In 2014 DUX published an album with his artistic project Polish Cello Music containing works by polish composers for cello ensembles from one to eight instruments. Jan Kalinowski also recorded the V Suite by Johann Sebastian Bach for the Bach Society and took part in recording the album: Krzysztof Penderecki – chamber music vol. II Violoncello Totale (DUX, 2017). For his artistic activity and commitment to promote Polish music, he was awarded the honorary badge Meritorious for Polish Culture by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. From 2012 he plays the instrument by Wojciech Topa.

Marek Szlezer (born 1981) Is one of the most sought-after Polish pianists. His career started with the Grand Prix at the International Piano Competition in Rome at the age of 12. He has studied at the École Normale de Musique in Paris, the Music Academy in Cracow and the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth in Belgium with Ewa Bukojemska, Abdel Rahman El Bach, Dmitri Bashkirov and Marcella Crudeli. He has held grants from Polish and foreign foundations, as well as the City of Cracow and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. He is a prizewinner of many prestigious competitions in Poland and abroad. His consummate performances of Frederic Chopin’s music have won him numerous prizes: 1st Prize at the National Chopin Competition in Warsaw and the special prize of the Chopin National Edition. He had the honor to play a concert on Chopin’s original piano at the Jagiellonian University on the night Poland entered the European Union. Marek Szlezer has performed in such prestigious concert halls as Carnegie Hall, Palais des Beaux Arts, Salle Cortot, Wigmore Hall, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Alfred Newman Hall and NCPA. He has performed with leading orchestras, including the English Chamber Orchestra, National Symphonic Orchestra of Ukraine and the National Polish Radio Symphonic Orchestra. He discovered the piano music of Jadwiga Sarnecka and recorded a selection of her compositions for DUX. He is the author of numerous research papers about piano works of Polish composers, published by Polish Music Publishers and Euphonium, as well as book publications and articles about Polish music. He has recorded several albums (DUX, EMI, Amadeus and Moderato Classics among others), receiving an enthusiastic critical acclaim in prestigious musical magazines (Gramophone, Kulturspiegel, The Strad, Pizzicato, Fanfare, American Record’s Guide among others). He is Professor, he works at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow, where he holds his own piano class. For his artistic activity and commitment to promote Polish music, he was awarded the Gloria Artis medal by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. Marek Szlezer is Steinway Artist.

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