Robert Kowalski is a violinist who moves fluently between several musical worlds. He performs as a soloist, chamber musician, and as concertmaster of the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, roles that together shape his distinctive artistic voice. Since 2016 he has also been a member of the internationally acclaimed Karol Szymanowski Quartet, appearing on major stages across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. He made his solo debut at the age of eleven, performing Mendelssohn’s Concerto in E minor with the Polish Baltic Philharmonic. Since then he has appeared in venues such as the Wiener Musikverein, Mozarteum Salzburg, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, and Carnegie Hall New York, collaborating with conductors including Markus Poschner, Krzysztof Urbański, and Robert Treviño. His recording of Richard Strauss’s concerto with the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana and Markus Poschner (CPO, 2018) received widespread critical praise and was nominated for the 2019 International Classical Music Awards.

Kowalski studied in Germany and Switzerland with Waleri Gradow, later working with Kolja Blacher and Ana Chumachenco. Influential musical figures in his development also included Bernard Greenhouse, Ivry Gitlis, and Ida Haendel. He completed specialized studies in historical performance practice at the Mozarteum Salzburg with Reinhard Goebel. He plays a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume viola from 1860, generously loaned by the Fondazione per l’Arte e Socialità.