Maria Włoszczowska, Leader/Director
Maria Włoszczowska joined the COE as Leader/Director in September 2024 and shares the position at 50% with Lorenza Borrani. Maria said about her appointment: “What an adventure to look forward to! I’m so grateful to the COE for their trust, openness and warmth. To be welcomed with such a positive spirit by a group I’ve listened to and admired most of my life is a dream come true.”
Polish violinist Maria Włoszczowska is recognised for her versatile musicianship, performing as a soloist, director and chamber musician, in addition to her role as Artistic Partner of the Royal Northern Sinfonia.
Recent career highlights include Maria’s solo debut at the BBC Proms with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and conductor Dinis Sousa, directing the Chamber Orchestra of Europe at Mozartwoche Salzburg, directing the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Mozart’s Violin Concerto no.5 with Orquestra XXI, and concertos by Vivaldi, Bach and Telemann with Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum under the baton of Reinhard Goebel at Leipzig’s Gewandhaus. In the 2024/25 season, Maria will perform as soloist and director with, among others, the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and Amsterdam Sinfonietta, and return to the Chamber Orchestra of Europe for a number of projects.
In recognition of her outstanding work as Leader of the Royal Northern Sinfonia since 2021, Maria was appointed Artistic Partner of the ensemble from autumn 2024 in a position that was created especially for her. In her inaugural season in the post, she will direct such different repertoire as Schubert’s Symphony No. 5, Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht and Pierrot Lunaire, Britten’s Les Illuminations, as well as an all-Bach evening including the Violin Concertos No. 1 and 2, to name a few. In addition, she features as soloist in Schumann’s Violin Concerto, conducted by Dinis Sousa.
Maria appears frequently at Wigmore Hall and at international festivals such as Musikdorf Ernen, Lockenhaus Festival, Lammermuir Festival and IMS Prussia Cove as well as in residency at Yellow Barn, Vermont. Distinguished artists such as Jeremy Denk, Alasdair Beatson and Dinis Sousa regularly join Maria in recital and recent highlights include her New York recital debut presenting all six Bach Sonatas for violin and keyboard and performing Ives’ complete cycle of Violin Sonatas at Wigmore Hall and Lammermuir Festival alongside Jeremy Denk.
The 2022-23 season saw the launch of the Valo Quartet, which Maria leads; they made their debut appearance at Festival Resonances, Brussels and have since performed at Trasimeno Music Festival, Italy, and in series such as Seriös Helsinki, Finland. Upcoming highlights will include debut performances at the Lammermuir Festival, Scotland, Musiq3 Festival, Belgium, Kaustinen Chamber Music Festival, Finland and in prestigious venues such as The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Gateshead.
A recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Emily Anderson Prize, Maria based herself in the UK after completing her studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Hungarian violinist and conductor András Keller. In 2018 she won both First Prize and Audience Prize at the XXI Leipzig International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition.
Maria plays on a violin by Francesco Stradivari.