Oriana Masternak is a violinist, chamber musician, and professor at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków. She is a habilitated doctor of musical arts and an organizer of artistic events. An award-winning interpreter and researcher of Polish music, both forgotten and contemporary, Oriana regularly performs as a soloist and, primarily, as a chamber musician across Asia, both Americas, and most European countries. Her versatile repertoire includes masterpieces from all eras as well as premieres of works dedicated to her. Critics praise her playing for its “beautiful sound, incredibly rich colors, impeccable intonation, and natural phrasing.”
To date, she has performed over 700 concerts at various prestigious festivals, including the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival (USA), Festival Pablo Casals (Prades), Mozartiade (Augsburg), Kalkalpen Festival (Grossraming), Pacific Music Festival (Sapporo), 21st Frühling Wiener Festival (Konzerthaus, Vienna), Carintischer Sommer (Austria), Warsaw Autumn, and Sacrum Profanum. Notable performances include a concert at the renowned Musikverein in Vienna in January 2012, and Carnegie Hall in New York in December 2015. In the fall of 2019, she was invited to perform 13 recitals of Polish music in prestigious concert halls in China, collaborating with pianist Justyna Danczowska. As a soloist, she has performed with orchestras conducted by distinguished conductors such as Maciej Tworek, Marek Moś, Ernst Kovacic, and Maria Bazou. She has premiered over 30 new works by Polish and international composers. Since 2014, Oriana has been a member of the Messages Quartet, which specializes in Polish chamber music.
Oriana has won numerous awards at national and international competitions, including those in Bulgaria, New York, Vienna, the Netherlands, and Italy, as well as in Kraków and Łódź. She has received scholarships from various organizations, including the “Młoda Polska” Scholarship Program, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, the European Chamber Music Academy, the Louise Willson Scholarship from Yale University (USA), the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Thomastik Infeld, the “Sapere Auso” Małopolska Scholarship Foundation, and the Creative Scholarship of the City of Kraków. Oriana has been a repeated nominee for significant awards in the Polish music community, including the Fryderyk Phonographic Academy Awards. In 2022, she, along with Julia Kociuban and the Messages Quartet, received the main prize at the 2nd International Competition “Musical Eagles” in the Chamber Ensemble category. A year later, she and the quartet were nominated for the Coryphaeus of Polish Music award in the Personality of the Year category. In 2023, she was awarded the Honorary Badge “Meritorious for Polish Culture,” given to those who excel in creating, disseminating, and protecting culture. Again in 2024, she was recognized as a laureate in the “Musical Eagles” competition.
Oriana studied at the Academy of Music in Kraków, where she graduated with distinction under Prof. Roman Reiner. She also studied at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Brussels, the European Chamber Music Academy, Yale School of Music, and the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna. Her artistic mentors include Johannes Meissl, Katalin Sebestyen, Małgorzata Skorupa, Magdalena Szczepanowska, and the Tokyo Quartet.
She has made many recordings for Polish Radio, including segments of the “Miejscówka z Dwójką” series, and for television. Oriana is regularly featured in the media, giving interviews for outlets like Polish Radio Program 2, Radio Kraków, Radio Kraków Kultura, and TV Kraków. Her phonographic catalog includes over 15 albums. In 2014, the Academy of Music in Kraków released her debut album featuring pieces for violin and piano by Lucien Durosoir, with pianist Sławomir Cierpik. In 2017, she released the album “Philipp Scharwenka: Music for Violin and Piano” with Acte Prealable. Oriana has also recorded for DUX Publishing House, including the Complete String Quartets by S. Laks performed by Messages Quartet and the album titled “Messages.” In 2021, DUX released two of her albums: “Parallels” (with Justyna Danczowska on piano) and the Fryderyk Phonographic Academy Award-nominated “Bacewicz/Tansman – Piano Quintets” (with Julia Kociuban and Messages Quartet). In 2023, another album featuring Polish clarinet quintets (with Piotr Lato and Messages Quartet) was released by DUX Publishing House.
As an animator of musical life, Oriana has completed nearly 30 projects, including concerts, scientific and artistic sessions, and cultural initiatives. She is the originator and organizer of the series “Musical Interventions,” the “Przedwiośnie Młodych” festival, the conference “Faces of the Violin’, the festival “A due,” and many other individual events. She regularly publishes in “Ruch Muzyczny.” Her research focuses on lesser-known works and analyses of Polish music and the Kraków violin tradition.
Since 2024, Oriana Masternak has been the Head of the Department of Violin and Viola at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, where she conducts her violin class. She has served as a juror for several prestigious competitions, including the Macroregional Chamber Auditions of Secondary Schools in Gdańsk, the International Music Interpretation Competition in Krasiczyn, the International Music Competition “OPUS,” the J. Stanienda Inter-University Violin Competition in Warsaw, the International Violin Competition “Janko Muzykant” in Sochaczew, and the National Competition for Young Instrumentalists in Jasło.
Oriana has also led masterclasses in Poland and abroad, including in Spain, Georgia, and Brazil. For several years, she has been a lecturer at the Małopolska Academy of Talents in Łąck, the Summer Academy of Music in Kraków, and the “Jak Wieniawski” Courses in Kazimierz.
The artist plays a violin made by Sebastian Lang in 1788.