Weronika Izabella Strugala
Weronika Izabella Strugała (1993), born in Poznań, began studying the cello at the age of 7. In 2017 she graduated with honours from the I. J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań in the cello class of PhD Maciej Mazurek. In 2022 she obtained her Master of Arts degree with honours from the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, where she worked under the supervision of ao. Univ. Prof. Stefan Kropfitsch. In October 2022 she started her Master's degree in cello pedagogy in the class of univ. Prof. Matthias Gredler at the same university.
She honed her skills in numerous masterclasses under the guidance of, among others: Yo-Yo-My, Natalie Clein, Alexander Nestryev, Natalia Gutman, Denis Severin, Markus Nyikos, Matthias Johansen, Natalya Prischepenko, Kazimierz Michalik, Stanislaw Firlej, Stanislaw Pokorski, Alexander Gebert, Konstantin Heindrich, David Penetzdorfer, Andreas Lindenbaum, Wolfgang Aichinger or Jacob Shaw.
She had her debut as soloist with the orchestra in 2017. She performed with the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Yaroslav Shemet A. Dvorak's Concerto in B minor, Op. 104. In the same year, she performed J. Brahms' Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102 with the Symphony Orchestra and Adam Domurat, and the following year she performed E. Elgar's Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 with the Soloist Kammerorchester Wien. In 2022, she performed with the Zielona Góra Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Marta Kluczyńska where she played A. Dvorak's Concerto in B minor, Op. 104.
As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed in Bulgaria, Austria, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, France, Slovakia, Indonesia and Taiwan. Her collaboration with numerous ensembles and orchestras has allowed her to perform with some of the most distinguished artists, including Zubin Mehta, Patrick Davin, Erwin Ortner, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Lorenzo Viotti, Marin Alsop, Lang Lang, Kirill Petrenko, Philippe Jordan, Franz Welser-Möst, Andrés Orozco-Estrade, Marin Alsop, Sian Edwards, Grace Bumbry, Lee Reynold, Ernst Kovacic, John Powell, Patrick Gallois, Johannes Meissl or Paul Gulda.
She has won numerous cello competitions, both National and International. Among her most outstanding achievements are: 1st Prize (together with the Teva Quartett) at the 21st International LAMS Matera Award, 3rd Prize at the 7th Odin International Music Online Competition, 1st Prize in the "Chamber Music" category at the 15th I. Zarębski International Competition in Izabelin, 1st Prize in the "Cello" category at the 14th J. Zarębski International Competition in Łomianki, 2nd Prize at the 2nd Chamber Tournament, 3rd Prize and Special Prize for the best performance of a work by F. Chopin at the 6th All-Polish Forum for Young Instrumentalists in Rybnik, 3rd Prize at the 9th Miedzinarodna sutazi Bohdan Warchala v hre na slacikowych nastroje Talenty pre Europu, and others.
She has been awarded numerous scholarships and prizes for her achievements to date. These include the Ernst von Siemens Private Foundation Scholarship, a scholarship from the ZAiKS Fund for the Promotion of Creativity, the Award of the Marshal of the Wielkopolska Region in the Field of Culture, or numerous Pro Cello Foundation Scholarships.
Since 2019, she is working at the K. Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, where she teaches at the Cello and Double Bass Department. In 2023 Weronika Strugała defended her doctoral thesis under Prof. Jan Kalinowski (Dissertation entitled: The process of penetration of selected foreign cello centres on the example of Polish virtuoso miniatures.) and is as well teaching at the Amadeus International School Vienna.
She is a cellist of the CIPRA Quartet, IWA Trio, and a solo cellist of WISE: Wien - International Soloist Ensemble.
