The unique artistry of Dr. Ivona Kaminska results from a rare blend of passion and intellect, scholarly research and sublime inspiration. With an inexorable thirst for knowledge, she studied internationally, coming into contact with a wide array of influences representing the various world-wide schools of pianism and musicology. A native of Warsaw, Poland, Ivona Kaminska holds such prestigious degrees in piano performance as a Master of Arts degree and Postgraduate Artists’ diploma from the Frederic Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, a Master of Music degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, as well as a Doctorate degree from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. She has also participated in international festivals including the Mozarteum Sommerakademie in Austria and Duszniki-Zdroj International Festival in Poland, among others. Winner of several solo concerto competitions in Poland and USA, and a prize winner of the Competition of Contemporary Music in Warsaw, she has appeared as soloist in Europe, USA and Canada, gaining acclaim for her tempestuous performances.
Dr. Kaminska was also bestowed several distinguished awards and artists’ grants, including the Stefan Batory Foundation Award, the PhD Recruitment Scholarship from the University of Alberta in 1998 and 1999, and the Astral Career Development Grant, among many others. She is an active performer, presenting many recitals, workshops, lectures, and masterclasses yearly, including programs of not only traditional solo piano repertoire, but also premiering several new works by living composers of Poland, Canada, and the United States. During her international studies, she worked with such artist-teachers as Andrzej Stefanski, Tatiana Shebanova, Boris Bloch, Ruth Laredo, James Cook, Mark CLinton, Henri-Paul Sicsic, and Marek Jablonski.
Dr. Kaminska’s repertoire encompasses a wide spectrum of styles, ranging from early Baroque music performed on historic instruments, to the in-depth interpretations of music by Frederic Chopin and Robert Schumann. Having come into contact with such eminent experts in 18th-century music as Igor Kipnis, Gregory Butler and George Ritchie, she has immersed herself in stylistic performance practice and pedagogical research. Having enriched her expertise by intense studies of the music of J. S. Bach on both organ and harpsichord, in 2003 Ms. Kaminska presented her doctoral dissertation, which discusses the issues of stylistic performance practice in regard to the modern piano.
Dr. Kaminska’s unique artistic and intellectual talents have led to her being featured in articles both in Poland as in USA, ranging from the musical journal, Twoja Muza (Poland, 2004 and 2005), to the recent interview in the Wall Street Journal (October, 2010).
Equally passionate as a pedagogue, Dr. Kaminska has served as piano faculty member in numerous institutions of higher education, such as Shoreline Community College and Cornish College of the Arts, in Seattle. She has served as chamber music coach in the Puget Sound Summer Chamber Music program, the International Piano Institute in Ashland, Oregon, and the Piano Summer Institute at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. In 2010, Dr. Kaminska retired from the collegiate career path and has devoted herself entirely to her students of the Chopin Academy of Music in Issaquah. Many of her pupils regularly win gold medals and top prizes at local competitions and festivals, and are finalists of the Seattle International Piano Competitions. Several have been awarded scholarships to prestigious music programs in both the USA and Canada.
Dr. Kaminska has also been a very active part of the music community in the Pacific Northwest as the founder and president of the Seattle International Piano Festival and Competition.
Current openings: (0); for current openings, please, contact directly Dr Kaminska: ivona@chopinacademy.com
Additional Languages Spoken: Polish
Audio Samples
Chopin’s Sonata in B minor, Op. 58, i. Allegro maestoso
Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 6 in A major, Op. 82, iv. Vivace