Katarzyna Smolarek
Biography
Katarzyna Smolarek, born in 1995, began playing the guitar at the age of 8 and is currently a student at the renowned Mozarteum University in Salzburg in the class of Professor Marco Diaz-Tamayo. Despite her young age, she has already won more than 20 prizes at national and international competitions. In 2017 she received the second prize at the Concurso Musical Dr. Luis Sigall in Chile and in 2018 also the second prize at the Concorso Internazionale di Chitarra Classica “Michele Pittaluga” in Italy, the only two guitar competitions that are part of the World Federation of International Music Competitions.
She has participated in various guitar festivals and given concerts (solo and with orchestra), taught masterclasses and served as a jury member. She has performed in many European countries (Poland, Romania, Italy, Austria, Portugal, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Netherlands) as well as in Chile and Australia.
Currently she is a member of the platform EuroStrings Artists 2018/1019 – a program for young talented guitarists.
Prizes (among others):
- 2nd Prize at the 51st International Michele Pittaluga Guitar Competition in Alessandria (Italy) in 2018
- 2nd Prize at the Concurso Musical Dr. Luis Sigall (Chile) in 2017
- 1st Prize at the International Guitar Festival of Sanremo (Italy) in 2017
- 1st Prize at the Sinaia Guitar Competition (Romania) in 2017
- 1st Prize at the Eistedfodd Guitar Competition in Sydney (Australia) in 2016
- 2nd Prize at the Salzburg Guitar Festival Competition in 2017
- 2nd Prize at the International Competition for Young Talents in Uppsala (Sweden) in 2018
- 2nd Prize at the International Guitar Competition “Cithara Ignea” in Żory (Poland) in 2016
- 2nd Prize at the L. Luthier Competition in Bratislava (Slovakia) in 2016
