Magdalena Filipczak

Violinist Magdalena Filipczak has been praised by The Arts Desk as “a musical chameleon.” The New York Concert Review hailed her Carnegie Hall debut  “a concert not to be forgotten…the vehicle of violin wizardry.” Magdalena has appeared as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician on some of the world’s most prestigious stages across Europe, and Americas, including Wigmore Hall, Het Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, the Tallinn Philharmonic in Estonia, Cracow Philharmonic, the Baltic Philharmonic in Poland, and Curitiba Philharmonic in Brazil. Since 2022, she has been collaborating as a soloist with the International Conducting Academy (ICA) in London. Among Magdalena’s many international competition successes, she is the winner of the IV Heino Eller International Violin Competition in Estonia, as well as the Gold Prize at the 2018 Manhattan International Music Competition. For her achievements and contributions to culture, she was awarded the Młoda Polska Scholarship by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Magdalena’s acclaimed debut solo CD, Essence of Violin, was celebrated by The Strad magazine as “glittering” and “captivating.” Magdalena’s solos can be heard also on Rosalía’s new album Lux, the BBC series Thief at the British Museum, CDs by Tim Garland, and chamber albums by Gruppo Montebello and Peter Gregson (on Deutsche Grammophon). Her performances have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Chicago WFMT, Dutch Radio 4, Canadian Radio, and numerous European TV and radio stations. Upcoming releases include a CD with the renowned pianist Peter Frankl and an EP with her brother, pianist Łukasz Filipczak, recorded on the legendary ex-Ida Haendel Stradivarius.

In Autumn 2025 Magdalena was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Performance degree from the Graduate Center (CUNY) in New York, where she was a recipient of the prestigious Graduate Center Fellowship. Her final thesis on Britten’s Violin Concerto and His Early Period are published online. She is also a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London as well as Itzhak Perlman’s The Perlman Music Program. Additionally, Magdalena studied classical and jazz singing. As an inspiring educator, she has taught at music institutions in London and New York.

Magdalena will be performing on a fine violin kindly loaned to her through the Beare’s International Violin Society.

Magdalena is accompanied by pianist Sam Armstrong.

Hailed as ‘a major new talent’ by International Piano and a ‘pianist of splendid individuality’ by The Arts Desk British pianist Sam Armstrong gave solo debut recitals at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in New York as well as at the Wigmore Hall in London.

Strongly drawn to chamber music, Sam has performed with musicians including Elina Buksha, Valeriy Sokolov, Krzysztof Chorleski, Fenella Humphreys, Viviane Hagner, Hannah Roberts, Ralph Kirshbaum, Alban Gerhardt and Pablo Barragan. He has appeared at festivals including Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Krzyzowa Music, Mecklenburg-Vorpommen, Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music, Ravinia and in venues such as Seoul Arts Centre, Esplanade Singapore, Kumho Art Hall Seoul, and Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. He has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Radio Suisse-Romande/Espace 2, NPO Radio 4, WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago and Radio New Zealand.

Sam maintains a regular partnership with the soprano Katharine Dain, releasing their first album “Regards sur l’Infini” in November 2020. The disc won the prestigious Edison Klassiek award in 2021 as well as being selected as The Guardian’s Classical album of the week. Their second disc “Forget This Night” was chosen as BBC Music Magazine’s Song CD of the month and also received major acclaim from the Times, Gramophone, as well as in the Dutch press NRC, Volkskrant & Trouw.

Highlights of recent seasons have been recitals at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, De Doelen Rotterdam, Concertgebouw Brugge & International Lied Festival Zeist with Katharine Dain, Wigmore Hall with violinist Geneva Lewis, National Concert Hall Dublin with cellist Ariana Kashefi, as well as Perth Concert Hall, Bath and Lammermuir festivals with violinist Irène Duval.

His own studies were with Helen Krizos in Manchester at the Royal Northern College of Music and subsequently in New York with Richard Goode at Mannes College of Music. He won the most important awards for piano in both institutions: first prize in the RNCM Piano Recital Prize and the Nadia Reisenberg Debut Award from Mannes. He also worked with John O’Conor in Dublin and in masterclasses with Leon Fleisher, Menahem Pressler, Mitsuko Uchida, Murray Perahia and Pierre-Laurent Aimard. He also studied song repertoire extensively with Cristina Stanescu in New York and Roger Vignoles in London.

Sam is currently Senior Tutor in Keyboard Chamber Music and Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. Credit for Sams photo goes to Andrej Grilc.

Magdalena and Sam will play:

Chopin              Nocturne E flat major, Op. 9 nr 2, Andante, arr. Pablo de Sarasate

Chopin              Mazurka Op. 33 nr 2, arr. Fritz Kreisler

Chopin              Życzenie (The Wish), Op. 74 nr 1, lyr. Stefan Witwicki

Britten                Lullaby and Waltz from Suite Op. 6

Chopin              Ballade in G minor, Op. 23, arr. Eugène Ysaÿe

Schubert          Sie mir gegrüßt (Let me greet you), Op. 20 nr 1, ded. Justina von Bruchmann

Schubert          Fantasia in C major for violin and piano, D. 934 , Op. posth. 159

This concert is sponsored by the Polish Cultural Institute