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Faculty Members

Krzysztof Chorzelski , Viola

Krzysztof Chorzelski was born in Warsaw in 1971 and enjoys a diverse career as a performing musician that takes him all over the world as the violist of the acclaimed Belcea Quartet, and as both a chamber musician and a soloist.

In 1991 Chorzelski moved to London to study at the Royal College of Music, first with Grigori Zhislin and later with Felix Andrievsky. In 1992 he won the Wronski Solo Violin Competition in Warsaw and has subsequently performed as a recitalist and concerto soloist in Europe, making recordings for Polish Radio and the BBC.

In 1996 he joined the Belcea Quartet as its violist.  The quartet has won major prizes at competitions such as Osaka, Bordeaux and Banff. Its international schedule regularly takes Chorzelski to the world’s most prestigious halls, such as Wigmore Hall in London, where the quartet had a five-year residency, Konzerthaus in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Theatre de Chatelet in Paris, Berlin Philharmonie, as well as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York. The Belcea Quartet's recordings for EMI were highly acclaimed by critics, winning a Gramophone Award, the Midem Award, the Diapason D’Or and the German Critics Chamber Music Recording of the Year Award. During the 2011/12 season the quartet will perform and record the complete Beethoven String Quartets for release on the Zig Zag Territoires label.

Krzysztof Chorzelski is professor of viola at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where the Belcea Quartet is Quartet in Residence. He also returns regularly to his native Warsaw to teach at the Chopin Academy and the Elsner Music School. He regularly gives viola and chamber music master classes in Switzerland, Poland, Romania, Israel and Colombia and is a frequent guest at international festivals such as the Spoleto Festival in Italy, Spannungen in Heimbach, Germany, the Oxford International Chamber Music Festival, the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina, USA and the Moscow Chamber Music Festival “Vozvroshchenya”.