Katarína Wieczoreková
Katarína Wieczoreková – graduated from the Music Conservatory in Bratislava in the guitar class of Prof. Jozef Zsapka. She studied at the Higher Artistic School in Bratislava, next continued her studies and graduated from the Academy of Music in Katowice (1991) under Prof. Alina Gruszka. She participated in master courses led by Ichiro Suzuki, Štěpán Rak, David Tanenbaum and Grant Gustafson. At present, she is a teacher at the Karol Szymanowski State Secondary Music School in Katowice and Art Director of the International Guitar Festival in Modra, Slovakia. Along with her husband, Franciszek, she performs in the guitar duet, Silesian Guitar Octet as well as organizes the Żory Guitar Festival and runs the MODRAN Artistic Agency.
Franciszek Wieczorek
Franciszek Wieczorek (Ph.D.) – graduated from the Academy of Music in Katowice in 1990. In the years 1990 – 2005 he was an academic lecturer at this Academy. He is a laureate of the 2nd Award in the Composer – Interpretative Competition in Tychy (the Silesian Guitar Autumn ’88). He participated in master courses by Ichiro Suzuki, Vladimir Mikulka and Grant Gustafson. At present he is a teacher at the Karol Szymanowski State Secondary Music School in Katowice and the State Music School in Rybnik.
The organizer, founder and artistic director of the Silesian Guitar
Octet; since 1989 Art Director of the International Guitar Festival and
Competition CITHARA IGNEA in Żory, Poland; owner of the MODRAN
Publishing House and publisher of the Polish magazine of the classical
guitarists “Six Strings of the World”; Chairman of the Silesian Society
of the Classical Guitar Enthusiasts SILESIANA.
He also performs the guitar duet with his wife, Katarina.
Radosław Wieczorek
Radosław Wieczorek was born in a family of musicians in 1996. He has
took his first steps in playing the guitar quite early, under the
tutelage of his father, Franciszek Wieczorek. He began his regular music
education when he was 6 years old, studying under Małgorzata Świtacz in
PSM I st. in Żory. In 2015 he graduated with an distinction from POSM
II st. im. Karola Szymanowskiego in Katowice, where he was studying
under Franciszek Wieczorek. Currently he is a student in the guitar
class of Professor Janusz Sochacki at Academy of Music in Krakow.
Radosław is a winner of 24 awards at all-Polish and international guitar
competitions including:
– first prize in „II Ogólnopolskie Spotkania Gitarowe” Elbląg (Poland, 2012)
– second prize in “Alirio Diaz” Competition in Rust (Austria, 2013)
– second prize in International Guitar Competition in Żory “Cithara Ignea” (Poland, 2014)
– second prize in Competition „Gitara na Kresach” in Chełm (Poland, 2015)
– third prize in “Mistrz Sześciu Strun” Competition in Zakopane (Poland, 2017)
– first prize and Grand Prix of 5th and 6th category in “Mladi gitaristi” Competition in Dolny Kubin (Slovakia, 2017)
As a solo performer and chamber music player he has given concerts in Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, France and Great Britain. Since 2013 he has been a member of Silesian Guitar Octet. He has also been playing with violinist Anna Wieczorek (his sister) and Austrian violinist Daniel Guillen. Currently he is playing in guitar duo with Ukrainian guitarist Dmytro Holovenko. He has premiered numerous works as a member of Silesian Guitar Octet (works composed by Jerzy Bauer, Krzysztof, Grzeszczak, Keiko Fujiie), in guitar duo with Michał Lazar (“Kryształ i szkło” by Maciej Jabłoński). Radosław has recorded for Polish television TVP. In the academic year of 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 he graduated from the “Youth Music Academy” in Katowice, studying with Wanda Palacz and Marcin Dylla. During the academic year of 2015/2016 he was a student of Paolo Pegoraro and Adriano del Sal at Segovia Guitar Academy. He studied with Oscar Ghiglia at Chigiana Academy in Siena. Besides that, he has honed his skills at numerous masterclasses and workshops run by outstanding teachers including Carlo Marchione, Andrea Dieci, Paul Galbraith, Thomas Kirchoff, Laura Young, Margarita Escarpa, Jeremy Jouve, Gabriel Bianco, Judicaël Perroy, Łukasz Kuropaczewski, Tomasz Zawierucha, Petr Saidl, Hubert Käppel, Thomas Müller-Pering, David Russel, Giampaolo Bandini. In 2010 he was a scholarship holder from the CEA (Polish Artistic Education Center). Radosław has collaborated magazine “Sześć Strun Świata”. In 2013-2015 he took part in activities of The Polish Children’s Fund who helps exceptionally gifted pupils and students to develop their academic interests and artistic talent.