Alicja Smietana

Born in 1983 in Krakow, Poland, Alicja Smietana performs works from Bach to Contemporary music with - what was described as "extraordinary brilliance and sensibility".

Winner of numerous competitions and awards (including First Prize at the Israeli International Competition and Brahms Society Award) Alicja studied at the Krakow Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Kronberg Academy where her teacher was Christian Tetzlaff.

Gaining respect of many world-famous musicians Alicja has performed as a soloist and chamber musician together with Gidon Kremer, Nigel Kennedy, Ivan Monighetti, Yuri Bashmet, Martha Argerich, Simon Rattle, Gustav Dudamel, Boris Pergamenschikow and others all around the world. As a soloist she has been also performing together with many world-renowned orchestras and ensembles and she's made her international debut in London under the direction of Sir Neville Marriner with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. She's performed in worlds most important venues including Berlin Philharmonic and Royal Albert Hall.

She has attended many international masterclasses such as Bachakademie and Sommerakademie Prag-Wien-Budapest and has been privileged to get artistic guidance from many wonderful musicians including Hagai Shaham, Dorothy DeLay, Tabea Zimermann, Erich Gruenberg, Zvi Zeitlin and most recently Itzhak Perlman. Alicja's also been a guest at many prestigious festivals such as Verbier, Buxton, Les Musiques and Schleswig-Holstein.

Since 2003 she has been played with Kremeratica Baltica and Gidon Kremer - which gave her the opportunity to work closely with many of the world’s finest musicians and conductors of our time. In 2010 she was asked by Nigel Kennedy to become a co-artistic director of his new “Orchestra of Life” with which she has also performed in the most renowned halls including Berlin Philharmonic, Cologne Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, and the Royal Festival Hall. Alicja is also keen on improvisation and is performing a lot of experimental music, jazz and contemporary music. 

She records for Solo Musica and plays a magnificent Camillus Camilli violin dated from 1740, with a Jean Persoit bow thanks to Mr Nigel Brown and the Stradivari Trust.