Czarakcziew / Kowal Duo
The Czarakcziew/Kowal Duo is a group associated with the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow, specializing in the search for outstanding yet lesser-known music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Paweł Czarakcziew and Piotr Kowal are laureates of international cello and piano competitions and actively perform solo and chamber music both in their home country and abroad.
In 2020, the musicians decided to embark on an artistic collaboration. During the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death, they performed at the Dni Muzyki festival in a concert dedicated to all of Beethoven’s cello sonatas. Since then, they have been working together, expanding their repertoire, mainly focusing on works from the 20th and 21st-century chamber music literature.
In 2021, the duo achieved notable recognition, including 2nd place at the International Instrumental Competition Golden Strings organized by the European Association of Folklore Festivals, the Excellence Award at The Sound of Music ORADEA International Competition, 2nd place, and an award for exceptional artistic potential at the I International Viennese Spring Music Competition.
In February 2023, their debut album titled “Bruzdowicz: Works for Piano and Cello” was released by the DUX label. For this album, they were awarded the Silver Diploma at the 3rd International “Muzyczne Orły” Competition in November 2023. They showcased the compositions of Joanna Bruzdowicz on stages in Poland and during their tour in the United States, where they performed “The Song of Hope and Love” by the composer and a program inspired by jazz music, featuring works by American composer Frederick Katz. The latter works were the subject of Paweł Czarakcziew’s doctoral research, which he conducted in Los Angeles during a Fulbright scholarship.
Piotr Kowal
Pianist, chamber musician, and educator associated with Kraków’s vibrant musical community. He graduated from the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, where he studied with Prof. Andrzej Pikul. In 2018 he received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree with a dissertation devoted to the interpretation of Beethoven’s late piano sonatas, including the monumental Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 106 “Hammerklavier”. In 2025 he obtained the post-doctoral degree.
He has performed internationally in Austria, China, Spain, Israel, Germany, the United States, Slovakia, and Italy. In 2025 he undertook a concert tour of the United States, appearing in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., and Mississippi.
A versatile artist, he performs both as a soloist and a chamber musician. He has appeared at prestigious festivals such as Wawel o zmierzchu (Kraków), Silence, Muzyka u Czartoryskich. He has collaborated with the Częstochowa Philharmonic Orchestra and the Rishon LeZion Symphony Orchestra, performing among others Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto in E-flat major. In 2024 he served as the artistic director of the Tyniec Chamber Recitals festival.
He is a laureate of numerous international piano competitions, including the Tadeusz Żmudziński Piano Competition in Kraków, as well as competitions in Israel, Portugal, Singapore, and Vienna. He received the Silver Diploma of Muzyczne Orły (“Musical Eagles”) for the album Bruzdowicz: Works for Piano and Cello, and the Bronze Diploma for Aurora, recorded with the Czarakcziew / Kowal Duo.
A scholarship holder of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (Artistic Scholarship 2022), the Adam Mickiewicz Institute (Polish Culture Worldwide programme), and the Rector of the Academy of Music in Kraków. In 2024 he was awarded the Kraków Mayor’s Prize for outstanding artistic achievement.
He continued his postgraduate studies at the Musikhochschule in Lübeck with Prof. Konstanze Eickhorst and Prof. Aquiles Delle Vigne, and has participated in masterclasses with distinguished pedagogues such as Paul Badura-Skoda, Dmitri Bashkirov, Dina Yoffe, Emanuel Krasovsky, and Evgeni Koroliov.
He currently serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Piano at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, and since 2018 has headed the Piano Department at the Bronisław Rutkowski State Music School in Kraków.
Paweł Czarakcziew
Cellist, chamber musician, and educator. He made his stage debut at the age of six, performing at the Kraków Philharmonic. Four years later, at the Polish Embassy in Paris, he appeared as a soloist with the orchestra of the Academy of Music in Kraków under the baton of Prof. Stanisław Krawczyński.
A recipient of scholarships from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Rector of the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, as well as the Educational Award of the Royal Capital City of Kraków. In 2022 he was nominated for the prestigious Fulbright Junior Research Award 2022–2023, within which he conducted artistic research at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
In 2025 he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with a dissertation devoted to the life and jazz oeuvre of Frederick Katz. He studied cello under Marta Nowaczyk-Łapińska and jazz cello under Mateusz Pliniewicz at the Bronisław Rutkowski State Music School in Kraków. In 2020 he graduated with distinction from the Academy of Music in Kraków (now the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music) in the class of Prof. Zdzisław Łapiński. He also refined his skills under Julius Berger at the Leopold Mozart Center in Augsburg and studied chamber music with Anna Armatys-Borelli, Kaja Danczowska and Barbara Łypik-Sobaniec.
He has performed in Austria, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Spain, Germany, Norway, Slovakia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Hungary. He has appeared at numerous festivals including Bachfest Leipzig, La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, Dni Muzyki, Dni Słowackie in Kraków, Gra w Klasykę, Krakowska Wiosna Wiolonczelowa, Emanacje – International Music Festival, Muzyka u Czartoryskich and Oblicza Śmierci.
His interest in improvisation – often beyond the strict boundaries of classical performance – has led him to a wide range of jazz, dance and theatre projects. He has performed at events such as Jazz under Himmelen, the International Festival of Errant Theatres, the International Dance Theatre Encounters, the National Open Theatre Meetings, and the Wadowice Theatre Encounters “Zgraja”.
He is a co-founder of Czarakcziew and the Jazz Cats, the Cracow Harp Quintet, and the Czarakcziew / Kowal Duo. Since 2020 he has taught cello at the Bronisław Rutkowski State Music School in Kraków, and since 2024 he has served as a faculty member of the Department of Cello and Double Bass at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków.
