Jan Kalinowski, born in Kraków in 1982, graduated with honours from the city’s Music Academy, where he studied cello with Witold Herman. In 2003 he continued his studies with Paul Julien at the ‘Alfred Cortot’ Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, gaining in 2004 the Diplôme Supérieur d’Exécution – ą l’unanimité. During the 2004/05 academic year he studied with Peter Buck at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart thanks to a half-year grant from the Socrates/Erasmus programme. He is currently a postgraduate student there in the ‘Solistenklasse’.
He has participated in master-classes given by Andrzej Zieliński, Claus Reichardt, Peter Buck and Julius Berger, in chamber music courses directed by Krzysztof Penderecki, Marian Lapsansky and
J.P. Menuge, in the course of the European Youth Chamber Orches-tra of Styria (2001), in the summer course in Montbrison (2002) and the Summer Bach Academy in Kraków (2003).
He has performed in numerous major events including the Festival of Jewish Culture in Kraków (1997), the Days of Kraków in Vilnius (1999), the Festival of Young Kraków Composers (2001), the Summer of Great Masters in Antonin (2002), International Days of Kraków Composers (2003, 2004, 2005), the ‘Musica Nobilis’ International Festival in Slovakia (2003), ‘Hommage ą Paul Sacher’ in Kraków (2003), ‘Touching the Elements – Art in Polish-German Dialogue’ (2004) and ‘Luigi Boccherini – the bicentenary of the composer’s death’ (2005).
His honours include First Prize for the interpretation of a work by B. Martinu at the isa Prag-Wien-Budapest (2003), and honourable mentions at the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe umfe for string instruments (2004) and the Young Musicians’ Competition in Kraków (1998).
Jan Kalinowski has held grants from the Society of the Friends of Kraków in Chicago (2003–04 and 2004–05), the Zygmunt Zaleski Foundation (2003–04 and 2004–05), the sapere auso Małopolska Foundation (2003–04 and 2004–05), and the Ministry of Culture (2004, 2005).
He has made recordings for Radio Kraków, Polish Radio 2, Polish Television and orf Television.