BIO

Julia Łopuszyńska was born in Warsaw in 1995. At the age of 7, she began her musical education on the violin, harp, and piano. For the first 12 years of her musical education, she was guided by the outstanding Polish harpist Prof. Anna Sikorzak-Olek. In 2014, Julia commenced her studies at the Academy of Music in Katowice under the mentorship of Prof. Helga Storck. In October 2020, she completed her master’s degree studies at Zurcher Hochschule der Kunst under the guidance of Prof. Sarah O’Brien. In 2023, she completed her pedagogical studies at Hochschule fur Musik Basel.

Julia is a laureate of auditions and competitions, both national and international, including the “International Harp Contest in Prague 2017,” “The Second International Contest Festival of Harp Art of V. Poltareva” (Ukraine; 2016),

International Competition of Chamber Music Nova Gorica (Slovenia; 2016), “International Competition of Chamber Music” (Italy; 2012), International Duet Competition in Cieszyn (2015, 2011, 2009, 2007, 2005), and Chamber Music Tournament in Bydgoszcz, among many others. She also participated in the ARD Wettbewerb 2023, advancing to the second stage of the competition.

Julia had the opportunity to perform at events such as the “World Harp Congress” (Amsterdam; 2008, Hong Kong 2017), “Concert of Young Artists with the Chamber Orchestra Amadeus” (Poznań; 2010), Chopin Open 2010, “La Folle Journee 2011-2014,” “Concert of Young Talents 2014,” “Young Musician of the Year 2014,” “Sroda Mlodych Nospr 2015,” “Days of Sofia Gubaidulina NOSPR 2016,” Chamber Orchestra Recital on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the University of Warsaw in 2016, “Schleswig Holstein Music Festival” (Germany; 2016, 2018), “7 Festival of Premieres NOSPR 2017,” the 22nd Ludwig van Beethoven Festival 2018,

and Tiroler Festspiele in Erl/Austria 2018, as well as concerts for Stichting Cultuur De Dijken in the Netherlands in 2019.

In 2020, she performed Ravel’s Introduction et Allegro at the festival in Samaden, Switzerland. In 2021, she played G. F. Handels Concerto for a harp and chamber orchestra with the Częstochowa Philharmonic. In 2022, Julia performed with the Universitat Orchester Basel in Handel’s Concerto for harp and chamber orchestra, and in 2023, she played Boieldieu’s Concerto with the Sinfonieorchester Basel. In the same year, she also appeared at the Eufonie Festival 2023 with ACH Duo in Warsaw, performing Britten’s Ceremony of Carols with the Cantus Basel Choir and many others.

Julia is a recipient of the “Young Poland” scholarship (2015/2022), the “Start2star Index” scholarship from the L. Paga Foundation, as well as the Lyra Stiftung and many others. She co-founded two chamber ensembles: Harp and Chords Duo with Stanisław Łopuszyński – Harpsichord and AchDuo with Aleksander Janowski vel Pankowski (Guitar).

In addition to solo, orchester and chamber concerts, Julia has been involved in student self-government activities, organizing the Nationwide Festival of Cultural Mixtures and the I AM Student Festival. Currently, Julia is also engaged in pedagogical activities, teaching in Musikschule Pfannenstiel and Musikschule Worblental Kiesental.

Masterclasses

In 2021, she participated in a harp symposium led by Mara Galassi, Heidi Rosenzweig, and Flora Papadopoulos in Milan, as well as jazz courses led by Colombian harpist Edmar Castañeda at the Hochschule für Musik Basel. In 2020, Doku took part in masterclasses with Emmanuel Ceysson at the Zurcher Hochschule der Kunst.

In 2019, she attended masterclasses with Sarah O’Brien in the picturesque Montepulciano, Italy. She concluded the year with a concert summarizing the workshops at the Atelier of New Music “Aufführungspraxis” at Zurcher Hochschule der Kunste in Switzerland, adding new experiences and inspirations to her repertoire.

In 2018, Łopuszyńska participated in masterclasses led by prominent teachers such as Florence Sitruk at the Academy of Music in Krakow and Isabelle Moretti. The previous year, she attended the World Harp Congress in Hong Kong, participating in workshops ranging from baroque music to folk music.

In 2016, Julia continued her artistic development through masterclasses with harpist Naoko Yoshino. Additionally, she took part in the Forum of Students of Artistic

Universities in Poznań, where she honed her organizational skills.

In 2015, she benefited from masterclasses led by Anneleen Lenaerts at the Baltic Philharmonic in Gdańsk and participated in baroque music courses led by Prof. Andrew Lawrence-King. In 2013, Julia attended the 1st Warsaw Harp Seminar “Around Russian Harp Music” led by Anna Verkholantseva and Germaine Lorenzini at UMFC in Warsaw. She also participated in the International Summer Academy in Moulin d’Ande, France, refining her skills under the guidance of Helga Storck. That year also included participation in the 1st Nationwide Summer Harp Course in Bytom under the guidance of Prof. H. Storcka, A. Janiszewska, M. Glenszczyk, and Prof. A. Bzhezhinska.

In 2011, she took part in the 5th International Master Course in Harp Music Interpretation at ZPSM No. 1 in Warsaw, gaining valuable experience through encounters with Elżbieta Szmyt from Indiana University – Bloomington/USA, and Joanna Kozielska from the Paris Conservatory/France.

ENSEMBLES

HARP&CHORDS DUO

Julia and Stanisław Łopuszyński are two artists forming a harp and harpsichord duo since 2012. Julia began her education in the class of Prof. Anna Sikorzak-Olek in Warsaw, and pursued her bachelor’s studies at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice in the harp class of Prof. Helga Storck, at Zurcher Hochschule der Kunst in the class of Prof. Sarah O’Brien, and at Hochschule fur Musik in Basel. Stanisław Łopuszyński started his musical journey in piano, and in the second degree school, he began studying harpsichord in the class of Prof. Liliana Stawarz. Since 2019, Stanisław has been a graduate of the master’s program at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music and postgraduate management studies at UMFC.

Julia is the laureate of 23 nationwide and international competitions, including the 2nd International Prof. Karel Patras Harp Competition (Czech Republic; 2017), The Second International Contest Festival of Harp Art of V. Poltareva (Ukraine; 2016), International Duet Competition in Cieszyn – 1st place – (2015, 2011, 2009, 2007, 2005), and many others. Julia had the opportunity to perform at events such as the World Harp Congress (Amsterdam, 2008; Hong Kong 2017), Concert with the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra (Poznań; 2010), Chopin Open 2010, La folle journée 2011-2014, Young Talents Concert 2014, Young Musician of the Year 2014, Nospr Young Wednesday 2015, Sofia Gubaidulina Days at NOSPR, Chamber Orchestra, SHMF16 (Germany), 7th Festival of Premieres NOSPR, or Harfenfestival 2017 (Frankfurt on the Main, Germany).

Stanisław Łopuszyński has received awards such as the 2nd prize at the Nationwide Harpsichord Competition in honor of Marian Sawy (2015), 1st prize at the III° Wanda Landowska International Harpsichord Competition in Ruvo di Puglia (Italy), the “Golden Finalist” award (grand prix in the solo category) at the 8th International Music.