ABOUT ME
Anna Krzyżak is a violist whose artistic work focuses on the performance of early and contemporary music. She sees these two seemingly distant styles as surprisingly close — both demand interpretative courage, creativity, and openness to experimentation.
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As a soloist and chamber musician, she regularly performs at prestigious festivals such as Warsaw Autumn, Chopin and His Europe, Actus Humanus, Misteria Paschalia, La Folle Journée de Varsovie, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Südtirol Festival, and Abu Dhabi Classics. In 2024, she was appointed
a young artist-in-residence at the Copenhagen Baroque Festival and launched her original project, Viola&Dance — an artistic initiative at the intersection of music, dance, and performance.
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Anna is passionate about exploring rare and lesser-known repertoire, consistently working to elevate
the viola as a solo instrument. Her interpretations are marked by stylistic sensitivity, tonal flexibility, and a deep understanding of the viola’s idiom.
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In 2018, she recorded the album Nordic Dream with the LGT Young Soloists orchestra. The release was nominated in three categories for the Opus Klassik Award. With the ensemble, Anna toured across Europe and Asia, performing as a soloist.
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She is a prizewinner of numerous international viola competitions, including those in Rome, Athens, Poznań, and Warsaw. She was also a finalist at the Michał Spisak International Music Competition and a semifinalist at the Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competition in Birmingham. In 2016, she took part in the Young Musician of the Year competition in Poland. Her artistic achievements have been recognized with scholarships from the Prime Minister of Poland, the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage,and the prestigious "Young Poland" scholarship programme.
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Anna earned her Master’s degree with distinction from the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music
in Katowice, studying with Elżbieta Mrożek-Loska. She also graduated with distinction from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, where she studied under Piotr Reichert, Michał Bryła, and Katarzyna Budnik.
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She continued her education at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin (class of Simone von Rahden) and completed a degree in historical performance at the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy
of Musicin Bydgoszcz, studying with Ewa Golińska. She further honed her skills during masterclasses with renowned artists such as Yuri Bashmet, Pinchas Zukerman, Wolfgang Klos, Roberto Diaz, Pierre Henri-Xuereb, Maxim Rysanov, and Yuri Zhislin.
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Her interest in historical performance began during her studies in Berlin, where she attended
a course led by Bernhard Forck (Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin). She later expanded her expertise through work with Chiara Banchini, Leila Schayegh, Giovanni Antonini, Aureliusz GoliÅ„ski, Martyna Pastuszka, and Marcin ÅšwiÄ…tkiewicz.
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Anna collaborates with leading Polish early music ensembles, including Arte dei Suonatori, {oh!} Orkiestra, Capella Cracoviensis, and the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra. In 2021, she was awarded
a scholarship by the international historical orchestra Theresia Orchestra.