Biography
Piotr Plawner ranks among Poland’s foremost living violinists. Active across his homeland as well as western Europe, he has focused on repertoire by Polish composers and frequently revived scores that had fallen into neglect.
Born in Lodz in 1974, he began violin lessons at the age of six and appeared as concerto soloist with a symphony orchestra by the time he turned nine. His training began at the State Secondary School of Music in Lodz under Iwona Wojciechowska and continued at the Lodz Music Academy with Zenon Ploszaj. A Henryk Szeryng Scholarship awarded by the foundation in Monaco enabled him to study in Bern, Switzerland, where he attended master classes given by Igor Ozim.
In the first half of the 1990s he captured major awards, among them the International Festival of Young Talents in Bayreuth, the International Wieniawski Competition in Poznan in 1991, and, most notably, the International Music Competition of the ARD in Munich in 1995. Appearances as concerto soloist have taken him to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Herkulessaal in Munich, and the Tivoli in Copenhagen, where he has collaborated with leading European orchestras; numerous radio and television broadcasts throughout the continent have also featured his playing.
Plawner established the Subito Ensemble, a string quartet devoted to Polish works, and since 2006 has served as first violinist of I Salonisti, taking part in the ensemble’s widely praised Music in Theresienstadt theater project.
Although his programs encompass a broad range of styles, he has devoted special attention to Polish music on both stage and disc, championing lesser-known figures such as Mieczyslaw Karlowicz, Emile Mlynarski, and Mikołaj Górecki alongside better-known composers. His recordings appear on the Dux, Naxos, and Hänssler labels; the latter issued his account of Grazyna Bacewicz’s violin sonatas in 2006 and the collection Polish Miniatures in 2018. In 2020 he released an album featuring Philip Glass’s Violin Concerto No. 2 on the Naxos imprint.
Born in Lodz in 1974, he began violin lessons at the age of six and appeared as concerto soloist with a symphony orchestra by the time he turned nine. His training began at the State Secondary School of Music in Lodz under Iwona Wojciechowska and continued at the Lodz Music Academy with Zenon Ploszaj. A Henryk Szeryng Scholarship awarded by the foundation in Monaco enabled him to study in Bern, Switzerland, where he attended master classes given by Igor Ozim.
In the first half of the 1990s he captured major awards, among them the International Festival of Young Talents in Bayreuth, the International Wieniawski Competition in Poznan in 1991, and, most notably, the International Music Competition of the ARD in Munich in 1995. Appearances as concerto soloist have taken him to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Herkulessaal in Munich, and the Tivoli in Copenhagen, where he has collaborated with leading European orchestras; numerous radio and television broadcasts throughout the continent have also featured his playing.
Plawner established the Subito Ensemble, a string quartet devoted to Polish works, and since 2006 has served as first violinist of I Salonisti, taking part in the ensemble’s widely praised Music in Theresienstadt theater project.
Although his programs encompass a broad range of styles, he has devoted special attention to Polish music on both stage and disc, championing lesser-known figures such as Mieczyslaw Karlowicz, Emile Mlynarski, and Mikołaj Górecki alongside better-known composers. His recordings appear on the Dux, Naxos, and Hänssler labels; the latter issued his account of Grazyna Bacewicz’s violin sonatas in 2006 and the collection Polish Miniatures in 2018. In 2020 he released an album featuring Philip Glass’s Violin Concerto No. 2 on the Naxos imprint.
Albums
Paderewski & Stojowski: Violin Sonatas
2021
Młynarski: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
2020
Glass: Violin Concerto No. 2 "The American Four Seasons" & Violin Sonata
2020
Polish Miniatures
2018
Polish Violin Concertos
2016
Szymanowski: Violin and Piano Works
2013
Szymanowski: Violin and Piano Works, Vol. 2
2008
Bacewicz: Sonatas for Violin and Piano
2006
Wieniawski: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
1996