Magdalena Ziarkowska-Kołacka is an assistant in the violin class at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław (Doctor of Musical Arts as of 2020) and deputy concertmaster of the Leopoldinum National Forum of Music Orchestra. In 2016-2019 she held the position of concertmaster of the Częstochowa Philharmonic Orchestra. She began her violin studies at the Music School Complex in Włocławek, after which she continued her studies at the General Secondary Music School in Łódź under the guidance of Professor Tomasz Bartosiak. In 2017, she graduated with honours from the I. J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań in the violin class of Prof. Jarosław Żołnierczyk. Between 2011 and 2016, she was a member of the Young Polish Philharmonic orchestra led by Adam Klocek, with which she performed in the most important concert halls of the country and took part in the MISA Festival in Shanghai. From 2013 to 2016, she was concertmaster of the Sinfonietta Youth Orchestra of the Lodz Region.
As a soloist and chamber musician she has taken part in many festivals including: Warsaw Autumn and Crazy Days of Music in Warsaw, Colours of Poland at the Lodz Philharmonic, the Bronislaw Huberman Violin Festival at the Częstochowa Philharmonic, Wratislavia Cantans, the Summer Academy of Music in Warsaw, and the Festival of Music. Bronisław Huberman Festival at the Częstochowa Philharmonic, Wratislavia Cantans, the Summer Academy of Music in Lusławice, the Masters of Polish Viola Festival at the Zielona Góra Philharmonic, the Southern Wielkopolska Music Festival in Kalisz, the All Sides of the World International Festival in Puławy, Poznań Spring, the Witold Lutosławski Festival Chain XII in Radziejowice. In July 2018, she undertook a prestigious concert tour as part of the Baltic Neopolis Virtuosi programme, performing 20th-century chamber music compositions in Poland and Estonia with concertmasters and leaders of leading European orchestras. She has also collaborated with pianist Barbara Karaśkiewicz, with whom she has toured extensively throughout Europe.
As a soloist, she performs with Polish symphony and chamber orchestras, including the NFM Orchestra Leopoldinum, the Zielonogórska Philharmonic Orchestra and the Częstochowa Philharmonic Orchestra, collaborating with such conductors as: Adam Klocek, Rafał Jacek Delekta, Grzegorz Wierus, Czesław Grabowski. She is also a guest lecturer at the Orchestra Academy of the National Forum of Music. Magdalena Ziarkowska-Kołacka is a laureate of 1st place in the solo category and 2nd place in the chamber ensemble category at the International Musica insieme Competition in Venice, 2nd place in the Tadeusz Wroński Youth Solo Violin Competition and a distinction in the 10th J. Zarębski International Music Competition. Currently she is promoting the figure of Bronisław Huberman, about whom she wrote her doctoral thesis entitled Bronisław Huberman - an analysis of the aesthetics of the great violin virtuoso's playing on the basis of his recordings, studies and transcriptions. The works described in the thesis were recorded on the album Bronisław Huberman in tribute to the violingenius, published by the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław together with the Częstochowa Philharmonic Orchestra. In October 2020, the Divine Art label released 20th Century Polish Music, a CD recorded with Barbara Karaśkiewicz and Sergey Rysanov (Huberman Duo and Huberman Piano Trio), featuring works by Grażyna Bacewicz, Karol Szymanowski and Andrzej Panufnik. The disc was acclaimed by many critics, both in Poland and abroad, as evidenced by its nomination for the prestigious Fryderyk Award in two categories.
Magdalena Ziarkowska-Kołacka has the honour of playing an Italian violin constructed by Riccardo Antoniazzi and once owned by Bronisław Huberman himself.
