Berenika Zakrzewski

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Berenika Schmitz, [1] stage name Berenika, (born January 24, 1983) is a Canadian concert pianist.

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Education

A child prodigy, she performed as a pinao soloist with the Sault Symphony Orchestra at the age of 9.

She attended Professional Children's School in New York [2] as well as the Juilliard School of Music. [3] After high school she went to Harvard University [4] on the Leonard Bernstein Scholarship, graduating magna cum laude in both music and government. She received her master's degree at Christ Church, Oxford University and her post-graduate diploma at the Royal Academy of Music in London. [5]

Career

She toured South America as a soloist with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, performing in Brazil, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Argentina, including at the Teatro Colón [6] in Buenos Aires. [7] She also played with the Oxford Philomusica. [8]

She has performed internationally with orchestras such as the Pittsburgh Symphony, Asheville Symphony, with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Jukka Pekka Saraste, [9] the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada under Erich Kunzel, the Penderecki Festival Orchestra under Heinrich Schiff, the Boston Civic Symphony under Max Hobart in Jordan Hall, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Rosa Symphony, [10] [11] the RIC Symphony Orchestra, the New Philharmonic Orchestra, Florida, and the Bialystock Philharmonic. [12]

She has also performed with the Sinfonia Varsovia, Camerata New York, the Poznan Philharmonic, [13] the Canadian Chamber Orchestra, the Christ Church Orchestra, the Beethoven Academy Orchestra and the Aspen Sinfonia.

She has also performed in the Allen Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center and at the Wigmore Hall, London. She was the spokesperson for CASIO's Privia, and was the Leonard Bernstein Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. She was presented to Queen Elizabeth II.

Berenika made a critically acclaimed live recording of the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 with Sinfonietta Cracovia under John Axelrod, distributed by Universal Music Group. [14] Her radio appearances include WQXR and Classic FM, MDR Germany, the BBC, NPR and the CBC.

References

  1. Schmitz
  2. Zernike, Kate (May 23, 2000). "From Curtain Calls to Ivy Halls". The New York Times . Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  3. "A concert tour of England and Scotland". Performing Arts & Entertainment in Canada. March 22, 1998. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  4. "Arts Do Not Prove Summers' 'Forte'". The Harvard Crimson . October 27, 2003. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  5. "Popular Piano Gala returns to festival, Liszt makes cameo". The Hamilton Spectator . September 29, 2007. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  6. "Young ambassadors of world harmony". Americas. November 1, 2003. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  7. Oxford Philomusica
  8. "Berenika Zakrzewski pianistka polskiego pochodzenia". Gazeta Wyborcza . August 23, 2002. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  9. "Santa Rosa Symphony". March 15, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  10. "Review: Berenika adds lustre to Santa Rosa Symphony". Review. March 15, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  11. "Pasierbica królewną?". Gazeta Wyborcza . October 18, 1999. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  12. "Słowa, rytmy i harmonie". Gazeta Wyborcza . December 1, 2003. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  13. "An Interview with Pianist, Berenika". Hank Zauderer. March 15, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.