MONIKA KRUK – piano
A graduate of the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, where she completed piano studies with an extended focus on vocal coaching. She earned her diploma in the piano class of Michał Szczepański and the chamber music class of Magdalena Blum (2012). She also completed the Interdepartmental Postgraduate Song Studies Programme in Warsaw. Her artistic development has been greatly influenced by encounters with such distinguished musical figures as Jerzy Marchwiński, Olga Pasiecznik, Jadwiga Rappé, Stephen Drury, Esther de Bros, Ubaldo Fabbri, and Ronan O’Hora. She has also collaborated with renowned flutists including Emmanuel Pahud, Aldo Baerten, Mario Caroli, Paolo Taballione, and Carlo Jans. She is a recipient of numerous scholarships and has won many awards in chamber music competitions in Poland and abroad. Monika Kruk has performed on many occasions in Poland’s most prestigious concert halls.
In 2021, together with Aleksandra Kubas-Kruk (soprano) and Anna Bernacka (mezzo-soprano), she participated in the world premiere performance of Mieczysław Weinberg’s songs to the poetry of Julian Tuwim and Adam Mickiewicz. She also recorded an album titled Weinberg (un)discovered featuring this repertoire (DUX, 2023), which received a nomination for the Fryderyk Award.
Alongside Michał Marcol (violin) and Krzysztof Karpeta (cello), she recorded the world premiere of chamber works by composer Paul Caro (SPMK Records, 2023).
In 2019, Monika Kruk defended her doctoral dissertation and currently works at her alma mater as a vocal coach and pianist in the vocal department. In this capacity, she is frequently invited to lead courses and workshops.
She serves as General Director of the Summer Chamber Music Festival Music in Old Wrocław, and is the founder and organizer of the Felix Mendelssohn International Chamber Music Festival in Duszniki and the Wrocław Chamber Musicians Forum. She also provides artistic direction for a series of concerts held at the Manor House in Łuków Śląski and at the Pan Tadeusz Museum in Wrocław.
