Collaborative Pianists

Olena Pavlova was born in Odessa, Ukraine. In her hometown, she completed all levels of education, graduating with a diploma with an excellent grade in the piano class at the National Academy of Music (2009). After completing her master's degree, she completed four-year aspirant studies at her alma mater—studies corresponding in content and form to doctoral studies. In 2013, she obtained the qualifications of a concert performer and lecturer at the Academy of Music.

Between 2009-2012, she was employed as a pianist at the National Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra and played several dozen concerts under the direction of renowned conductors. She has also received invitations to collaborate with the orchestra of the National Academic Opera and Ballet in Odessa on domestic concerts and foreign concert tours. From 2008 to 2019, she was employed as a chamber pianist at the National Academy of Music in Odessa, specializing in the repertoire of wind instruments.

Since 2019, she has been employed as a pianist and tutor at the Faculty of Voice and Drama at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, Poland, as well as the Department of Wind Instruments, Percussion and Accordion. At the same time, she conducts didactic activity at the Bronisław Rutkowski Music School in Kraków.

She has also collaborated with composers, including A. Tomlonova, J. Gomielska, K. Maidenberg, A. Chibalashvili during the creation of their works and took part in the world premieres. She is often invited to participate in international festivals, such as the Two Days and Two Nights of New Music festival in Odessa.

She is invited to play concerts with the brass department of the Academy of Music in Kraków and the International Hornweek horn festival and master class (Kraków, Poland 2019; Karlsruhe, Germany 2022; Kraków, Poland 2023). In July 2024, she was the festival pianist at the International Horn Camp at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Qingdao, China, where she performed at concerts with world-famous horn players. She worked on masterclasses led by David Johnson, Will Sanders, Willy Bessems, Guido Corti, and Bernardo Silva.

Mrs. Pavlova received an invitation to take part as a festival pianist at the 57th International Horn Society Symposium "Heritage Horns" at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA (June 2025), during which she performed with world-famous horn virtuosos: Szabolcs Zempleni, Gail Williams, Peter Luff, Zora Slokar, and Bernardo Silva.

Olena Pavlova is passionate about popularizing not-well-known music composed by Ukrainian composers.

Klaudia Strączek – pianist, accompanist, and Doctor of Arts in Musical Arts (Instrumental Performance, 2020). She graduated with a Master’s degree in Piano Performance from the Academy of Music in Kraków (2016) and a Bachelor’s degree in Eurhythmics (2014).

She is a prizewinner of numerous national and international competitions, including awards in Kraków, Prague, Berlin, London, and Vienna. Together with her sister, flutist Wioletta Strączek, she won First Prize at the International Ludwig van Beethoven Competition in Vienna (2017) and the Golden Classical Music Awards in New York (2021), which awarded her a performance at Carnegie Hall. She has performed with the Chamber Orchestra of the Academy of Music in Kraków, the Representative Orchestra of the Border Guard, the Wind Orchestra of the Academy of Music in Kraków, Sinfonia Carpathia, and the Concert Orchestra from Warsaw.

Klaudia has received many distinctions for accompaniment at national and international competitions and festivals across Poland, including events in Kraków, Kielce, Jasło, Katowice, Wadowice, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Nowy Targ, Gdów, Sieradz, Ruda Śląska, Sochaczew, Cieszyn, Sosnowiec, and Piotrków Trybunalski, as well as at competitions in Brno, Czech Republic.

She collaborates regularly with the Summer Music Academy in Kraków, the International Music Interpretation Courses in Nowy Sącz, the Małopolska Academy of Talents, and the Conductors’ Training Program for Wind Orchestras. She has refined her skills in masterclasses with renowned artists such as Paul Badura-Skoda, Dmitri Bashkirov, Anna Malikova, Manfred Aust, and Roberto Russo.

Klaudia is employed at the Academy of Music in Kraków in the Faculty of Instrumental Performance and Composition, Interpretation, and Music Education. She also teaches in first- and second-degree music schools. Her pedagogical work has been recognized with awards from school directors, the

Olga Tsymbaluk – pianist, born in Lviv (Ukraine). In 2000, she completed, with distinction, the Lviv Secondary Specialized Music Boarding School named after Solomiya Krushelnytska. She studied for her Master’s degree and Postgraduate Piano Studies under the supervision of Prof. Romana Podsadecka-Ostafil at the Academy of Music in Kraków. She also studied chamber music with Prof. Kaja Danczowska. In 2023, she was awarded a PhD in musical arts, and her doctoral thesis was awarded a distinction.

Currently, she is associated with the Faculty of Voice and Drama studies at her alma mater. She also worked as an opera tutor and soloist at the Kraków Opera. She took part in such performances as F. Schubert’s Winter Journey to the words of S. Barańczak, directed by Józef Opalski; A. Schoenberg’s Cabaret Lunaire with Agata Zubel in the lead role; Cinderella to the music of G. Rossini, directed by Giorgio Madia; The Barber of Seville by G. Rossini, directed by Jerzy Stuhr; and in many vocal chamber music concerts organized by the Kraków Opera.

Olga Tsymbaluk has performed three times with the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra. She is a laureate of several piano competitions. She has received numerous diplomas for outstanding accompaniment by collaborating with other musicians. She has collaborated with the Polish Radio Choir, the National Forum of Music in Wrocław, the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera in Norway, the Helena Modrzejewska National Stary Theatre in Kraków, and the Centre for the Meeting of Cultures in Lublin. She is invited to participate in master classes and vocal competitions as a piano accompanist. As a chamber music pianist, she gives concerts and presents her skills in collaboration with many instrumentalists and singers.