Krzeszowiec Szymon

A renowned Polish violinist and chamber musician, he graduated from the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice in the class of Roman Lasocki and from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam after studies with Herman Krebbers. He won prizes in violin competitions in Poznań (Zdzisław Jahnke National Violin Competition), Warsaw (Tadeusz Wroński International Solo Violin Competition) and Brescia (Italy), as well as first prize in chamber music competitions in Copenhagen and Sondershausen (with the Aristos String Trio).
He has performed as a soloist with leading Polish orchestras, such as the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra, the Sinfonia Varsovia, as well as with most of the country’s philharmonic orchestras.
Since 2001 he has been the principal violinist of the Silesian Quartet, with which he has performed regularly around the world. The ensemble has received numerous major awards and honors, including Otto Fryderyk Awards for recordings of music by Chausson, Górecki, Bacewicz, and Weinberg, the Gramophone Classical Music Award for recording the complete string quartets of Grażyna Bacewicz (2017), and the Coryphaeus of Polish Music Award (2019). In 2022, the Silesian Quartet completed the project of recording the complete string quartets of Mieczysław Weinberg.
The artist works regularly with pianist Wojciech Świtała, with whom he recorded a complete set of Johannes Brahms’ violin sonatas for Sony Classical Poland. He is also a member of the Wajnberg Trio.
His discography includes more than 50 CDs recorded under such labels as EMI Music Poland, Chandos, BIS, CD Accord, Naxos, ECM, DUX, Dacapo.
Szymon Krzeszowiec is also an academic pedagogue. He heads the department of string instruments and teaches a violin class at his Alma Mater. He is the founder and artistic supervisor of the Mieczysław Weinberg International Violin Competition in Katowice.