About Polish String Quartet Berlin

The Polish String Quartet was founded in 2002 and is made up of Polish members of the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper in Berlin: Tomasz Tomaszewski (first violin), Piotr Prysiażnik (second violin), Sebastian Sokoł (viola), and Maryjka Pstrokońska-Mödig (cello). After its successful debut at the fe­stival Koblenzer Musiktage, the ensemble has performed in Germany, Italy, Poland, and Norway, and gained an excellent re­putation for the performance of contem­porary Polish music. Apart from the classical canon of works by established Polish composers of the twentieth century, such as Szymanowski, Bacewicz, Lutosławski, Panufnik, Baird, Tansman, Penderecki, Meyer, Stachowski, and Górecki, the Polish String Quartet focuses on repertoire by unjustly neglected Polish composers, including Ignatz Waghalter and Józef Nowakowski. The quartet initiated a well-received concert cycle organized by the University of the Arts in Berlin, presenting works of Franz Schreker's Polish students, which led to renewed interest in the music of Jerzy Fitelberg, Karol Rathaus, and Ignace Strasfogel. The ensemble's interest in Po­lish music led to the creation in 2012 of the European Forum for Polish Music in Ber­lin, whose honorary president is Krzysztof Penderecki. One of the projects realized through the EFPM was a concert cycle en­titled "Poland Abroad", which is dedicated to the presentation of Polish composers, such as Alexandre Tansmann, Simon Laks, Andrzej Panufnik, André Tchaikowsky, Piotr Moss, and Witold Szalonek, who lived and worked in exile.