Jakub Haufa

Born in 1980 in Poznań, he graduated with distinction from the Paderewski Music Academy in Poznań from the class of Jadwiga Kaliszewska (2003). He further mastered his skills with Charles Treger, Manfred Scherzer, Marina Jaszwili, Krzysztof Węgrzyn, Wanda Wiłkomirskia, Toru Yasunagi, Alessandro Cappone and Vadim Repin. He was awarded scholarships by the Poznań City Council (2001) and from 2000-2003 the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and in 2009 he won the 6th edition of the Młoda Polska Scholarship Programme.
He is a laureate in such competitions as: 2nd prize at the Stanisław Serwaczyński National Competition for Young Violinists in Lublin (1999), 2nd prize at the 6th Zdzisław Jahnke National Violinist Competition in Poznań (1999), distinction at the 12th Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poznań (2001).
Since September 2003 he has been working at the Paderewski Music Academy in Poznań, and in February 2013 received a PhD in Musical Arts.
He is a lecturer at the Sinfonia Varsovia Academy, a project serving to help musicians master their orchestra skills.
As a soloist, he has cooperated with outstanding artists such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Jacek Kaspszyk, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Jan Krenz, Grzegorz Nowak, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Marc Minkowski, Nigel Kennedy, Albrecht Mayer, Stefan Dohr, Gábor Boldoczki, Michael Nyman (music to the film - “I am”) and Jarosław Śmietana. He has also performed in many prestigious concert halls i.a. Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Philharmonic Halls in Berlin, Munich and Cologne, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Tonhalle in Dusseldorf, Theatre des Champs-Elysees and Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Konzerthaus in Vienna, Tonhalle in Zurich, Auditorio Nacional de Musica in Madrid, and Berwaldhallen in Stockholm. As a soloist, he has also taken part in the festivals: La Folle Journée, La Roque d’Antheron and Baltic Sea Festival.

Since 2003 he has been first concertmaster of the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra, with which he performs all around the world, making recording for albums, TV and radio. Many a time he led the Polish Chamber Orchestra / Sinfonia Varsovia as concertmaster, at the music stand during concerts and recording with such musicians as Nigel Kennedy, Vadim Repin, Albrecht Mayer, Sir James Galway, Gábor Boldoczki, Siergiej Nakariakow, Borys Berezowsky, Ryu Goto.
In 2006 a DVD entitled Live at the Citadelle was released by EMI. It presents a concert by the Polish Chamber Orchestra in Carcassonne in France, where as soloists Jakub Haufa and Nigel Kennedy performed the Violin Concerto in C major by Antonio Vivaldi. This recording was broadcast many times by the Mezzo TV station. In August 2006 the Deutsche Grammophon label released a record of Albrechta Mayera, an oboist (a DVD as well in 2007) entitled New Seasons – Jakub Haufa performed there as concertmaster and as a soloist.

He has performed with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice and the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra as guest concertmaster.
In autumn 2012, an album containing Sonatas from Szostakowicz and Strauss (Marcin Sikorski – piano) and a version of Krzysztof Penderecki's Ciaccona on violin and alto (Katarzyna Budnik-Gałązka – alto) was released thanks to a cooperation between Polish Radio Programme 2 and the Accord CD label.

2015 brought many interesting artistic events. In January Haufa performed again as soloist with the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra under Krzysztof Penderecki, playing his Concerto doppio. Next in May he performed Andrzeja Panufnik's Violin Concerto under Jerzego Maksymiuka during a tour with the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra in China (Beijing, Tianjin, Wuhan). In June he performed the French Horn Trio by Johannes Brahms together with Stefan Dohr (I French horn player of the Berliner Philharmoniker) and Michał Francuz. In July he performed as soloist/conductor with the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra playing the concerto for violin and strings in D minor by Felix Mendelssohn during The Festival de Radio France et Montpellier/Bedarieux. December brought another performance of Krzysztof Penderecki's Concerto doppio with the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra at the newly opened National Forum of Music in Wrocław under Alexander Sladkovski.

He plays a Stephan von Baehr violin (Paris, 2010).