Violin recital “Around Wieniawski” — Zofia Anna Olesik (violin), Joanna Zathey-Wójcińska (piano)

The master recital performed by Zofia Anna Olesik accompanied by Joanna Zathey-Wójcińska is a meeting with the unique sensitivity of violin and piano. The concert takes place as part of the Festival Prize awarded to the winner of the Zdzisław Jahnke National Violin Competition. Zofia Anna Olesik, as the winner of this competition, also received a direct qualification for the Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition.

Program of the concert:

H. Wieniawski — Concert Polonaise in D major, Op. 4

S. Prokofiev — Sonata in F minor, Op. 80

F. Chopin — Nocturne in C minor op. posth. (arr. P. Sarasate)

I.J. Paderewski/St. Barcewicz — Melody

F. Kreisler — Liebesfreud

E. Ysaÿe/C. Saint-Saëns — Etude in the form of a waltz, Op. 52

Zofia Anna Olesik — born in 2005, is currently studying at the Academy of Music in Poznań under the direction of Professor Marcin Baranowski.

She is a laureate and finalist of more than thirty national and international competitions, including the Henryk Wieniawski and Karol Lipinski International Violin Competition, the Jascha Heifetz International Violin Competition, the International Aram Chaczaturian Competition, the Arthur Grumiaux International Violin Competition and the National Violin Competition The name of Zdzisław Jahnke.

In November 2025, she became the first officially announced participant of the 17th Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition. In 2026, she received a scholarship from the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, joining an elite group of young string instrumentalists supported by one of the most outstanding violinists and mentors of our time.

As a soloist, she has performed with leading orchestras such as the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra and International Lutosławski Youth Orchestra. She has performed in prestigious halls and music centers in Europe and the United States, including Buckingham Palace, Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory, at the NOSPR headquarters in Katowice, at the Krzysztof Penderecki European Music Center and at the Sheldonian Theatre.

Her artistic development was shaped by collaborations and master classes led by the most outstanding musicians of our time, including Julia Fischer, Midori, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Donald Weilerstein. She also worked with members of the Vienna Philharmonic as part of the Penderecki project and collaborated with the European Union Youth Orchestra.

Appreciated for her artistic maturity, virtuoso technique and charismatic stage presence, Zofia Anna Olesik is rapidly consolidating her position as one of the most promising young violinists on the international music scene.

Joanna Zathey-Wójcińska — pianist and chamber musician, since 1999 professionally associated with the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań, where she cooperates with violin classes, and teacher at the J. Kaliszewska Secondary School of Music at the ZSM in Poznań. He specializes in piano chamber music, conducts chamber ensembles and prepares pupils and students for violin competitions, winning numerous awards and distinctions for outstanding artistic qualities of the piano part. For 13 years she worked closely with Prof. Jadwiga Kaliszewska.

He is an esteemed competition pianist. She was the official pianist of the XIII H. Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poznań (2006), and also performed during the 2022 edition, accompanying Shihan Wang in stages 1 and 2. She participated as a competition pianist in the 1st Karol Szymanowski International Violin Competition in memoriam in Toruń (2007), the S. Serwachzynski National Competition for Young Violinists in Lublin (since 2014), the K. Lipinski and H. Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Lublin (since 2015) and the National Competition Violin “Jak Wieniawski” in Lublin (2019, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026). He also regularly collaborates with the G. Ph. Telemann International Violin Competition, held in Poznań.

In 2023, she was the official pianist at the special edition of the 19th A. Khachaturian International Violin Competition in Beijing and a year later at the Khachaturian International Youth Competition (2024). Since 2023 she has been the official pianist of the W. Wiłkomirska International Competition of Polish Music in Częstochowa.

He cooperates with the Krzysztof Penderecki European Music Centre, where he takes part in the Winter Academies of Music and concerts from the series “Presentations”. She was invited to the International Chamber Music Festival Mønsommer Festival in Denmark (2022, 2023) as a chamber musician and educator. In May 2023, she sat on the jury of the Maifestival Young! in Rellingen (Germany). In 2026, together with Zofia Olesik, she participated in the prestigious course “Violin Masterclass with Anne-Sophie Mutter” in Oxford. He conducts lectures and workshops for teachers of pianist-chamber musicians and acts as a consultant to the CEA in the field of piano chamber music.

Since 2011 she has been creating a duet with violinist Jarosław Nadrzycki. The artists performed, among others, at the Ohrid Summer Festival in Macedonia (2011), in the series “Master Recitals” of the NOSPR in Katowice (since 2015), during the “Youth Academy of Arts” Festival in Moscow (2019), the “Emanations” Festival (2019) and the 35th International Music Festival IKSEV in Izmir (2022). In 2026 they were invited to the series “With classics through Poland” organized by NIMit.

In his phonographic output, he has a CD with sonatas for violin and piano by Johannes Brahms, recorded with Jarosław Nadrzycki (Orphée Classics, 2018), as well as a recording of trio works by Joseph Haydn, Friedrich Kuhlau and Carl Maria von Weber (Da Vinci Classics, 2023). Another album with works by Robert Schumann is in the works.

She graduated with honors from the Academy of Music in Poznań in the piano class of Prof. Grzegorz Kurzyński and postgraduate studies in chamber music at the Accademia di Musica in Pinerolo (Italy) in the class of Prof. Dora Schwarzberg. In 2015 she received the title of Doctor of Art.