For over twenty five years, pianists Ivona Kaminska and Christopher Bowlby have established themselves internationally as a sought-after piano duo team, as soloists, instructors of highly gifted students whom they co-teach as a team.
Polish-born pianist, Dr. Kaminska-Bowlby received her master of arts and post-graduate artist diploma in music from the F. Chopin Music University in Warsaw, Poland
where she studied with Professors Andrzej Stefansky and Tatiana Shebanova. Her further studies brought her to North America, where she met her husband Dr. Bowlby, after which the duo team continued studies in the USA and Canada, receiving advanced degrees in piano performance.
Both pianists maintain a busy concert agenda as soloists and collaborators, in addition to a demanding teaching schedule in the Chopin Academy of Music, Inc. in Issaquah. Their engagements have taken them to Barcelona Piano Academy, Spain, Music Lyceum In Warsaw, Poland, Thalberg International Piano Competition in Naples, Italy, Honolulu Public Radio, HI aside from many local festivals and competitions in Washington, Oregon, California, Nebraska, Luisiana, Arizona and Vancouver, Canada. They appear as lecturers and guest performers at state, regional and national Music Teachers’ National Association (MTNA) conventions.
Their versatility and wide-ranging repertoire has been enthusiastically received on the international stage, including performances at Salle Cortot, Paris, Atherton Recital Hall in Honolulu, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York City, Castello Visconteo Sforzesco di Galiate in Italy, the Biblioteca Nacional de Cataluña in Barcelona, among numerous other venues. Their repertoire ranges from the standard masterworks for 4-hands, including Schubert’s F minor Fantasia, to debuts of new works by living composers, including Jeff Junkinsmith’s “Rashomon” (2005) and works by Polish composer, Anna Ignatowicz-Glinska.
Ivona Kaminska-Bowlby and Christopher Bowlby together founded the Chopin Academy of Music in Issaquah, Washington in 2005, where they develop and oversee the talent of over 250 high-achieving students in conjunction with an international team of artist-teachers. Their students have garnered top prizes at local, national, and international competitions. The Kaminska/Bowlby team are also the executive directors of the Seattle International Piano Festival and Competition and Scottsdale based Chopin Piano Arts Academy.
ENDORSEMENT:
“Ever since the creation of the Chopin Academy of Music, their music school in the Seattle area, Ivona Kaminska (-Bowlby) and Christopher Bowlby have infused extraordinary energy, spirit, musicianship and wonderful inspiration through their pedagogical commitment, pianistic brilliance, deep sense of cultural community and positive leadership. This is also eloquently demonstrated by the highly successful Seattle International Piano Competition and Festival which they founded ten years ago.”
Dr Henri Paul Sicsic, Canada
Formerly Professor of Piano at the University of Toronto
and Professor of Piano at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver