---

Biography

Violinist Blanka Bednarz is an alumna of the Jadwiga Kaliszewska Talent School in Poznan (Poland), University of Kansas and the New England Conservatory. She studied with Eric Rosenblith, Michelle Auclair, Ben Sayevich and (viola with) James Dunham, and chamber music with Patricia Zander and members of the Ying, Cavani, and Borromeo Quartets. 

As soloist, she has performed with the Changsha Symphony, Connecticut Virtuosi, Symphony and Chamber orchestras of the New England Conservatory, Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonietta Polonia and the Delaware County Symphony and others. She has performed in the USA, United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland, China, the Netherlands and Lithuania, at the venues such as Jordan Hall in Boston, Miller Hall, An Die Musik, Philadelphia Ethical Society, Kosciuszko Foundation, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Grosser Sendesaal des Rundfunks Berlin-Brandenburg, the Beijing Concert Hall and Adam Mickiewicz University Auditorium in Poznan. She can be heard on Capstone Records, Acte Prealable and Musica Omnia. 

Bednarz is an avid chamber musician. She participated in series and festivals, such as the Highlands-Cashier Chamber Music Festival, Candlelight Series in Baltimore, the Beethoven Festival Park City, Chopin Festival in Miami, FL in the USA, and “Chopinesque Confrontations”, “International Festival of Organ and Chamber Music” in Słupsk, Mozart Festival in Poznan and Chanterelle Festival in Gołuchów in Poland, on invitations from organizations such as the Chopin Foundation of the United States, Kościuszko Foundation, Karol Szymanowski Society, Polish Embassies in Beijing and Berlin. With Atma Trio she performed throughout Europe and the United States, and in China. Atma Trio’s CD, on the leading Polish label Acte Préalable, was highly praised in Muzyka 21: “Excellent piano trios by Mendelssohn and Ravel in masterful rendition.” 

She collaborated with renowned artists such as John Novacek, Barry Snyder, Rita Sloan, Brian Ganz, Doris Stevenson, Jeffrey Solow, Simon Gollo, Manuel Ramos, Adrian Levine, Monte Belknap, Richard Stoltzman, Leslie and Russell Harlow, members of Boston, St. Louis and Baltimore Symphonies, Corigliano and Amernet Quartets, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Alarm Will Sound, Harrisburg, Utah and the Baltimore Symphonies. In 2007-08 Bednarz joined as the first violinist the Vega String Quartet-in-residence at Emory University in Atlanta, GA ("marvelous foursome,"). 

Bednarz is currently faculty of the University of Utah and Utah Valley University, Gifted School of Music and the International Musicians Academy http://internationalmusiciansacademy.com/ 

She taught at Dickinson College, the Young Artist Institute under Beethoven Festival Park City (UT), NEC Preparatory School and Emory University. She coached chamber music at International Musical Arts Institute, ME; the International Music Institute and Festival, MD (www.imif.us), at Franklin Pond in Atlanta. She has given master classes at universities and colleges in the USA, Poland and China. Bednarz is concertmaster of Sinfonietta Polonia (https://www.sinfoniettapolonia.pl) and Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra. She is also Executive Director and conductor of Utah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra (www.uvyso.org) as well as associate conductor of Utah Valley Symphony. 

CD of Matthew Bengtson and Blanka Bednarz, Karol Szymanowski: Music for Violin/Piano; Piano Solo (2017 on Musica Omnia) was awarded a Global Music Awards Silver Medal – Outstanding Achievement in classical and instrumental/instrumentalists category. Bednarz was also a finalist in chamber music category and received an honorable mention as soloist in the American Prize Competition.  

Of Szymanowski CD: “Blanka Bednarz is clearly a remarkable violinist…” –D. Morrison, Fanfare, Jan./Feb., 2018 

“Blanka Bednarz is clearly a remarkable violinist…The present release, offering a way to explore Szymanowski’s writing for solo piano and violin and piano in top-quality performances, is strongly recommended.” --Daniel Morrison, Fanfare, Jan./Feb. issue, 2018 

“Violinist Blanka Bednarz is in possession of a very secure technique and, in the main, impeccable intonation…Bednarz also produces a richly varied tone, which she alters dynamically and coloristically in response to the music’s nuances and subtleties of the moment.” –Jerry Dubins, Fanfare, Jan./Feb. issue, 2018 

“These are first rate performances of the music for violin and piano, moody and atmospheric in the soft passages, big-boned and dramatic in the more aggressive ones.” --Lynn René Bayley, The Art Music Lounge, Aug 21, 2017. 

“Bednarz’s violin playing illuminates every detail of these sometimes nigh-impossible works.” --O’Connor, American Record Guide, 2018. 

“Violinist and pianist bring out the composer’s sensuality in a rich ambience that speaks directly to the listener’s emotions… Bednarz and Bengtson have produced a fascinating, expressive recording that will help to familiarize modern audiences with the Polish composer’s works.” --Maria Nockin, Fanfare, Jan./Feb. issue, 2018 

“Outstanding Polish violinist.” --Marek Zaradniak, Glos Wielkopolski, Feb. 18, 2018. 

Courses Taught

• Violin - Private Lessons
• Chamber Music