Katarzyna Budnik-Gałązka

Graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw from the violin class of Professor Mirosław Ławrynowicz, Andrzej Gębski and Janusz Wawrowski, and from the viola class of Professor Piotr Reichert.
She is currently employed at her alma mater as assistant lecturer.
She has performed many times as soloist and in chamber ensembles in Poland and in many countries in Europe. In 2010 she was involved in the Chamber Music Connects the World project, organised by the Kronberg Academy, where she performed with some of the greatest musicians in the world, including Gidon Kremer, Tatiana Grindenko, Yuri Bashmet and Frans Helmerson.
She has also performed at many renowned festivals,
including the Music Festival in Łańcut, at the Muzyka na Szczytach [Music from the Mountaintops] International Chamber Music Festival in Zakopane and at the Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus (to which she was invited by Gidon Kremer).
Released in November 2013, her solo album Viola Recital received the Polish Fryderyk 2014 award.
For her outstanding achievements Katarzyna Budnik-Gałązka received a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.
She has also received a scholarship from the Młoda Polska [Young Poland] program. In 2013 she was nominated for Polityka magazine’s Passport award.
She has been the viola leader in the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra since 2014.
Prizes and Awards
1st prize in the 47th Ludwig van Beethoven competition in Hradec (2008)
1st prize in the 15th Johannes Brahms International competition in Pörtschach (2008)
1st prize in the 8th Jan Rakowski National Viola Competition (2008)
2nd prize in the Max Rostal International competition in Berlin (2009)
2nd prize and special prize for the best performance of Max Reger’s suite for viola solo) in the Max Reger International Chamber Music Competition in Sondershausen (2009)
2nd prize and special prize in the 4th Michał Spisak International Competition (2010)
3rd prize in the ARD competition in Munich (2013)