Polish Violin Duo consists of violinists
Marta Gidaszewska and Robert Łaguniak.
The ensemble was founded in 2014. He had his beginnings at the M. Karłowicz Music School in Poznań in the class of prof. Karina Gidaszewska. Currently, Marta is an assistant at the I. J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań in the violin class of prof. Bartosz Bryła and prof. Karina Gidaszewska, while Robert is a PhD student at the G.&K. Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź in the violin class of prof. Karina Gidaszewska. Marta and Robert have been taking part in international and national violin and chamber music competitions for years, always winning top prizes. They have nearly 200 awards to their credit, including at competitions in: Japan, USA, Estonia, Serbia, Denmark, Greece, Sweden, England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Germany, Poland.
As a duo, they conduct lively concert activities. They performed, among others: at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, the Szeligowski Philharmonic in Poznań, Szymanowski Philharmonic in Krakow, A. Malawski Podkarpacka Philharmonic in Rzeszów, A. Rubinstein Philharmonic in Łódź, H. Wieniawski Philharmonic in Lublin, O. Kolberg Świętokrzyska Philharmonic in Kielce, the Lower Silesian Philharmonic in Jelenia Góra, W. Lutosławski Chamber Philharmonic in Łomża, CKK Jordanki concert Hall in Toruń, the Krzysztof Penderecki European Center for Music in Lusławice.The artists also gave concerts in the USA (Las Vegas, San Diego, New York) as part of the “Polish Music on Stage” program and, among others, in Chicopee and at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, as well as in China during the International Gala in Beijing, where they inaugurated the ceremonial opening of a new air connection from Warsaw to Beijing. In February 2023, they went on tour in France, where they played a number of concerts in Bordeaux, Cap-Ferret and La Reole. They also performed during various festivals and concert series, including: during the Rzeszów Music Autumn, Wawer Music Festival, AŻ Festival in Łódź, Summer Festival of the New Town in Warsaw, “August of Talents” in Katowice, “Colors of Poland” in Łódź, Summer Organ and Chamber Concerts in Władysławowo, “Duetomania” in Poznań, Festival Chamber and Organ Music in Skierniewice, the Konarzewski Music Festival in Konarzewo, the Czarnoleski Art Festival, a series of concerts “With the classics through Poland”, “Musical Matinée” – Summer Stage”, “Masterpieces of Chamber Music”, and ” Pearls of Chamber Music.
They also performed with orchestras, including with: the W. Lutosławski Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra in Łomża, the “Progress” Orchestra as well as the “Poznańskie Smyczki”.In 2023, the artists won the Creative Scholarship of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, thanks to which they performed 12 concerts in music schools, presenting the music of Polish composers to polish young students.
In 2021, the musicians released their debut album, performing the world premiere of Duets for two violins by a forgotten Polish composer – Joachim Kaczkowski. In 2022, the ensemble’s second album with works by 20th century Polish composers was released (Bacewicz, Weinberg, Spisak, Paciorkiewicz) – both albums were released in cooperation with the DUX recording and publishing company. Their third album with works by Hungarian and Czech composers will be released in 2023.
In 2020, the Polish Violin Duo was nominated for the “Corypheus of Polish Music” award in the “Discovery of the Year” category.
The artists took part together, among others: in the program “Pytanie na Śniadanie” on TVP2, “Puls of Culture” on TVP World, “Scena Classica”, “Cultural Information” and „Sunday with the National Institute of Music and Dance”, with such personalities as Leszek Możdżer and Adam Sztaba, on TVP Kultura. In addition, they appeared in the programs “Płytomania”, “Wybieram Dwójkę” and “Kanon Dwójki” on the Second Program of the Polish Radio, as well as in the radio program on the Merkury Classica station and on the Polish Radio Rzeszów. “Presto” magazine published an extensive interview with Duet, in which they talked about their relationship and their achievements so far.
Marta Gidaszewska and Robert Łaguniak received funding from the “Muzyczny Ślad” program, they have received the “Polish Music Stage” project organized by the National Institute of Music and Dance as well as they have received twice a funding from the “Compositional Orders” program (in cooperation with the “Muzyka do Potęgi” Foundation ” and the O. Kolberg Świętokrzyska Philharmonic in Kielce), thanks to which in December 2023, together with the Świętokrzyska Philharmonic Orchestra in Kielce, they will premiere the work for two violins and symphony orchestra by Anna Rocławska-Musiałczyk.
In 2023, the duo recorded the audio-video premiere of the work “Agnus” by Dariusz Tabisz, dedicated to Countess Maria Zamoyska. In the same year, “Fantazja” for two violins and piano by Sławomir Kaczorowski has been written and published, dedicated to the Polish Violin Duo and Marcin Koziak. In 2022, the work by Aaron Alter – Dance for Apollo for two violins and by Olga Hans – Canto a due was published, and in 2020, the work by Michał Janocha – Attra for two violins, also dedicated to the Polish Violin Duo was created.
Also in 2020, two albums were released by the DUX record company with recordings from the S. Moniuszko International Polish Music Competition in Rzeszów with their participation. Polish Violin Duo also actively conducts workshops for children, teenagers and teachers from music schools in Poland. They shared their experience, among others: at the K. Szymanowski Primary and Secondary Music School in Wrocław.