Ada Witczyk, Simon Standage, Dominika Maszczyńska
Biographie Ada Witczyk, Simon Standage, Dominika Maszczyńska
Ada Witczyk
Described as ‘the new wave wizard’ (South West Londoner), Ada Witczyk has inspired over 200 new works for baroque violin and counting.
Relentless in her drive to create a ‘New Baroque’, breaking out of endless cycles of Bach partitas and Vivaldi concerti and pushing the boundaries of what is possible.
Singled out by BBC Music Magazine as their ‘Instrumental Choice’ and receiving a 10-star review, the 2023-24 season also marks the release of her new album of contemporary music ‘New Baroque’ on First Hand Records (available on all platforms).
Radio broadcasts with the BBC, Radio Soest (Netherlands), Argentina Classic National Radio, Radiotelevisione Svissera, and Poznan Radio Klasyka have all featured Witczyk’s many new recordings, but it’s her bold music videos that have captured the imagination of composers, musicians and new audiences across the world from Peru to Thailand.
MMA cages, underground carparks, glamourous historic buildings, gothic churches; forget pretentious, this is for the new wave of classical audiences.
Presenting her latest commissions, on show during her 2023 USA tour, Witczyk took audiences in Seattle and Portland by storm, encouraging frenzied discussion at the annual New Music Gathering (keynote by Caroline Shaw) and prompting countless entries to her revolutionary composition competition named after Czech harpsichordist and fellow new music-enthusiast Zuzana Ruzickova.
Collaborations with acclaimed period ensemble Florilegium, and a new solo album, have come thick and fast, receiving invitations from the likes of São Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival for future seasons.
Other recent highlights have included appearances at the BBC Proms, solo performances of Viotti’s Sinfonia Concertante with Simon Standage at the English Haydn Festival amongst others.
Ada plays a Cremonese violin from the 18th century, on kind loan by the Harrison-Frank Family Foundation.
Simon Standage
Leader and soloist with the English Concert from its foundation until 1990, he also fulfilled the same role for many years with the City of London Sinfonia. In addition to the many records he made with the English Concert (including Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, nominated for a Grammy award), he also recorded solo and chamber music, including all of Mozart’s violin concertos with the Academy of Ancient Music, of which he was, with Christopher Hogwood, Associate Director from 1991 to 1995.
Since his foundation, with Richard Hickox, of Collegium Musicum 90, he has made numerous recordings for Chandos Records. As soloist and director of chamber orchestras and chamber musician, he is active both in Britain and abroad. He is leader of the Salomon String Quartet (founded by him in 1981), which specialises in historical performance of the Classical repertoire, performing worldwide and making many recordings and broadcasts. He is a professor of baroque violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest and teaches at summer courses in Europe.
He received a medal for services to Polish culture in 2008, was awarded Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music in 2009, and in 2010 received the Georg Philipp Telemann Prize from the city of Magdeburg.
Dominika Maszczyńska
Born in Poland, Dominika Maszczynska performs on a variety of keyboard instruments, including fortepiano and harpsichord as well as modern piano. She graduated with distinction from the Royal College of Music and the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice.
As both a soloist and continuo player, Dominika has performed with numerous orchestras and ensembles, including The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Zabrze Philharmonic Orchestra, Florilegium, De Profundis, Volantes Orchestra, I Fagiolini, Brecon Baroque and EEEmerging+ Academy Orchestra.
Her fortepiano performance of Beethoven’s 5th Piano Concerto (with the Volantes Orchestra and Jos van Immerseel) was well received by the Czech press: Dominika impressed with her energetic expression, musicality and technical dexterity. Her connection and communication with the orchestra were excellent. (Karla Hofmannová/klasikaplus.cz).
An experienced performer, she has played numerous concerts in different countries across Europe (Spain, France, Italy, Germany, UK, Poland, Czech Republic, Netherlands) and South America (Brazil, Bolivia). Her recordings were broadcast by BBC Radio 3 and Polskie Radio program 2 among others. Dominika regularly performs on original instruments (Handel&Hendrix, Cobbe Collection, Horniman Museum, RCM Museum, St. Cecilia’s Hall, Holburne Museum) and has made recordings for Erddig/National Trust on the original Broadwood square piano and Collard & Collard piano from 1876.
She is the principal keyboard player of the ensemble Liturina, which is about to release its debut CD featuring works by J.S. Bach and new commissions by Jonny Mansfield. Besides early music repertoire, she is also interested in exploring contemporary music written for period instruments. In 2021, she performed the Jazz Harpsichord Concerto by the late Joseph Horovitz. In preparation for this concert she collaborated with the composer himself. She has recently recorded an album of new pieces written for baroque violin and harpsichord with Ada Witczyk and Simon Standage, which will be released in 2025.
Dominika won the RCM Historical Performance Competition and the Century Fund Prize. She was awarded the Charles Colt Scholarship in 2019 and the Fellowship in Historical Keyboards at the Royal College of Music for three consecutive years, 2020-2023. She is a Keyboard Charitable Trust Artist and was the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Young Associate 2023.
Her future engagements include concerts and CD recording of JC Bach’s works for four hands and two keyboards with Canadian fortepianist Anders Muskens, as well as a concert with Avi Avital and São Paulo Chamber Soloists at Cadogan Hall, London.
