Award winning Polish-born and New York City-based concert violinist Kinga Augustyn has been described as “an adventurous performer valuable to New York’s scene” (NY Concert Review), “violinist for whom nothing seems too difficult” (Polish Daily News), “stylish and vibrant…playing with verve and superb control….great sensitivity and unashamed virtuosity” (The Strad Magazine), and “beyond amazing, one hell of a violinist!” (The Fanfare Magazine). She has performed as a soloist with orchestras in the United States, Europe and Asia. Among them are the Magdeburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra Leopoldinum, the Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the American Academy of Conducting Orchestra at the Aspen Music Festival, the Manhattan Symphonie, the Gateway Classical Music Society Orchestra, the Broadway Bach Ensemble, the Glacier Symphony, and the Augusta Symphony Orchestra. As a soloist of The Manhattan Symphonie, Augustyn made her Asian debut in 2014, performing multiple concerts at China’s most prestigious concerts venues such as Beijing’s Poly Theater and Shanghai Oriental Art Center. In addition to her many orchestra appearances, Kinga maintains a busy concert schedule as a recitalist and chamber musician with appearances at Carnegie Hall (in both the Stern Auditorium and the Weill Recital Hall), Alice Tully Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Merkin Hall, The Kosciuszko Foundation, Bargemusic, The Aspen Music Festival, The Polish and Hungarian Embassies in Washington, DC, and Chicago’s Cultural Center (Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts Series), among many others. She has performed as a featured artist at such festivals as the Memphis in May International Festival, Festival Amadeus in Montana, Paderewski Festival in California, the Sevenars Music Festival in Massachusetts, and the Henryk Wieniawski Festival in Poland. Her artistic collaborations also include violin performances with The Jose Limon Dance Company at the Joyce Theater in NYC. Among the conductors she has worked with she can count Francesco Corti, Marek Pijarowski, John Zoltek, Arkady Leytush, Ida Angland. Other top musicians she has shared stage with include cellists Robert DeMaine (principal cellist of LA Philharminic) and Dorothea Noack (assistant principal of the Met Orchestra) and pianists Daniel Epstein, David Oei, Spencer Myer, and Mirian Conti, among others. Kinga Augustyn’s most recent and critically acclaimed recordings include Glen Roven’s Runaway Bunny Concerto (trio version with Kinga Augustyn’s Solo Violin Cadenza) for GPR Records (Naxos distribution), with Catherine Zeta- Jones as a narrator, as well as Kenneth Fuchs’ Falling Trio for Naxos. She has premiered and recorded Michael White’s works composed especially for her. These include his Sonata for Violin and Piano (2009), his Trio Sonata (2008), and the Quartet for Piano and Strings (2010), released on Albany. Committed to increasing awareness of music by Polish composers, as well as promoting contemporary music, Ms. Augustyn has made a significant contribution to Polish music by recording a highly praised CD of lesser known Polish Violin Music. Released in 2013 on Naxos, the CD called by The Strad Magazine a “fascinating traversar of a century and a half virtuosic music from Poland” includes many world premiere recordings of not only 20th century but also 19th century works! The Fanfare Magazine compares the excitement in Augustyn’s performances of Zarzycki’s Mazurkas to David Oistrakh’s and it applauds her “fresh and dramatic approach to Lipinski’s music” predicting that it “shall bring her new admirers”. Music Web International calls Kinga Augustyn “another discovery”. Kinga Augustyn also performs Ysaye’s “Ballade” in the documentary movie ” Solomon Volkov. Conversations with Yevgeny Yevtushenko” filmed for Channel One Russia. Her new contemporary music CD will come out in 2016, in addition to a few other recordings, including her new recording of Paganini Caprices. Ms. Augustyn has won international awards, including First Prizes at the Alexander & Buono International String Competition (NYC), Artist International Presentations (NYC), J. S. Bach String Competition (Zielona Gora, Poland), and Ackerman Chamber Music Competition at Stony Brook, NY, and the 2015 Oustanding Pole Competition, category “Young Pole”, in the United States. Other top honors include prizes at the Kosciuszko Foundation Wieniawski Violin Competition (NYC), the Johannes Brahms International Competition (Poertschach, Austria), the Kloster Schoental International Young Artist Competition (Kloster Scheontal, Germany), as well as New Horizon Fellowship from the Aspen Music Festival, The Young Musical Scholar Award, the Kosciuszko Foundation Scholarship, Crescendum Est Polonia Award, the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union Achievement Award, the Diploma for Promoting Polish Music from Consul General of Poland in New York, the Emerging Artist Award from the Sorel Organization. Kinga Augustyn began her music studies at the age of seven in her native Poland. Her first violin teachers were Aleksandra Bogdan and Zbigniew Szuflat. Musically she was also influenced by her mother, soprano Mariola Augustyn. Later on she went on to study at The Juilliard School, where she studied with Dorothy DeLay, Cho – Liang Lin, and Naoko Tanaka, and earned both the Bachelor and the Master degrees. Augustyn also holds a doctorate from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she worked with Phil Setzer and Pamela Frank. Her other former teachers include Petru Munteanu, Piotr Milewski, and Kurt Sassmannshauss. As a teacher, Dr. Augustyn has served as a Violin Faculty for The Alexander & Buono Festival of Music. She has also conducted various violin, piano and chamber music masterclasses and workshops in the United States and Poland. She has a private violin studio in Manhattan, where can count many talented young musicians among her students. Kinga Augustyn plays on an early 18th Century violin made by Antonius Zanottus, generously on loan to her from a private collector. …beyond amazing (…). Kinga Augustyn is one hell of a violinist. Her technique is tested to the breaking point in the virtuosic pieces, and she emerges unscathed. But also put to the test is her versatility in adapting to the wide range of music and styles presented, and again, she meets the challenge magnificently. Hallmarks of her playing are razor-sharp execution, even in the most taxing technical passages, and a tone of silvery purity high up on the E string, and of full-bodied mocha richness on the G string. That leaves a lot of notes in between, but they’re all produced with equal and even resonance. – Polish Violin Music, Jerry Dubins, The Fanfare Magazine, 2013 …Music of Ysaye, Lutoslawski, and Szymanowski proved that Ms. Augustyn is an adventurous programmer valuable to New York’s concert scenes (…). Her playing was riveting and stylistically and emotionally varied (…). her impassioned performances and especially her devotion to new music make her a violinist to watch. – New York Debut Recital, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Anthony Aibel, NY Concert Review, 2008 We were regaled with a very interesting and memorable presentation of Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade (…). Ms. Augustyn’s flawless technique brought out Bernstein’s special violinistic effects with flair, while allowing the inspiring and moving melodies to speak for themselves. Her rich sound, unblemished double stops, and technical mastery of all difficulties were rewarded by warm ovations accompanied by clamorous “bravos.” – L. Bernstein Serenade with Magdeburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Maestro Francesco Corti, Magdeburger Theater, Ulrike Loehr, Magdeburger Volksstimme, 2008 Pianist Evan Solomon has appeared in chamber music and vocal recitals in France, Germany, China, Japan, Korea, and throughout the United States. His exceptionally wide repertoire has led to frequent engagements as official pianist at events such as the Hannover International Violin Competition, the International Viola Congress, the West Point Clarinet Summit, and the Starling-DeLay Violin Symposium. Mr. Solomon's performances as faculty artist of the Great Mountains Music Festival in Korea have been heard on the Korean Broadcasting System and National Public Radio's "Performance Today" in America. Additional television credits include appearances on Arts & Entertainment Network's "Breakfast with the Arts" with violinist Sarah Chang and cellist Han-Na Chang, and "Live from Lincoln Center: Perlman at the Penthouse" on the Public Broadcasting System (USA). His recordings with tenor Michael Sells and clarinettist Seunghee Lee have received wide critical acclaim. Evan Solomon began his piano studies with Olga Radosavljevich at the Cleveland Institute of Music. A graduate of Grinnell College with a major in mathematics, he received the Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California as a student of Brooks Smith. Mr. Solomon has been on the accompanying staff of the Juilliard School since 1986.