Zambrzycki-Payne and Agnieszka Marucha, May 1st, 2010

Background

Rafal Zambrzycki-Payne - violin

Winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition in 1996, Rafal Zambrzycki-Payne was born in Lodz, Poland. He studied with Wen Zhou Li at the Yehudi Menuhin School and at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and subsequently in Vienna with Gerhard Schulz where he was also a scholar at the Herbert von Karajan Centre.

Rafal has performed with many of the major UK orchestras, throughout Europe as well as in the Middle East, Far East, USA, South Africa and Zimbabwe. He performed Khatchaturian’s Violin Concerto for the composer’s centenary celebrations with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra and in 2004 gave the British premiere of Alexander Arutunian’s Violin Concerto as well as performing the work at the composer’s 75th Birthday Concert. Recent engagements have included performances with the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Armenian Chamber Orchestra, Danubia Symphony in Budapest, KZN Philharmonic in Durban, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, Munich and Zurich Chamber Orchestras.

In 2004 Rafal became solo violinist and leader of the international Frankfurt-based contemporary music group Ensemble Modern, as part of which he regularly performs in many of the world’s top venues and festivals..

An avid chamber musician, Rafal is a founding member of Dimension Piano Trio, winners of the 2005 Parkhouse Award. His first commercial recording was released on the EMI Debut Series featuring works by Szymanowski, Britten and Grieg together with pianist Carole Presland.

Rafal plays on a violin made by J.B.Villaume in 1844

Agnieszka Marucha - violin

A top prizewinner at the 2001 Szymanowski International Violin Competition and the International Pierre Lantier Competition in Paris, Agnieszka Marucha was born in Warsaw into a musical family.

Recent highlights include a critically acclaimed performance of Szymanowski’s Violin concerto No. 2 with the Bern Symphony Orchestra, as well as solo performances with The Anglian Chamber Players, The Dutch Aurora Philharmonic, and with major symphony orchestras. She has given recitals all over Europe, in China and Hong Kong, and has performed at numerous music festivals.

In 2003 she graduated with distinction from the Warsaw Chopin Academy. She is also a holder of the Masters Diploma from the Zuid Nederlandse Hogeschool voor Musiek in Maastricht and the Soloist Diploma from the Hochschule der Künste in Bern. In 2008 she completed the Doctorate Programme at the Warsaw Chopin Academy, and also studied Baroque Violin in Basel.

Between 2006-2008 she held a position of Violin Professor at the Elsner Specialist Music School in Warsaw and regularly gives master classes in the Bosa Antiqua Music Courses in Sardigna. In January 2009 she became a concertmaster of the Danish Chamber Players and Storstrom Symphony Orchestra (violin solo position).

Her violin and piano ensemble “Polish Duo” enjoyed considerable competition success, and
performed at the Chanterelle Festival, in the Polish Cultural Institute in Rome, and as part of the prestigious “Wednesdays at the Music Academy”.

An avid chamber musician, Ms. Marucha is a member of the Galant Piano Trio and Trio Arditto. She also writes and reviews for Muzyka21, Poland’s most popular classical music magazine.