Jerzy Kosmala

Jerzy Kosmala has established himself as one of the world’s premiere violists. Internationally acclaimed as a concert violist and pedagogue, he has performed throughout Europe, the former Soviet Union, Canada, North and South America, Asia, and South Africa. His recordings can be found on Orion, Vox/MGM, and Centaur labels.

He has appeared as a guest artist and performer at leading international festivals, viola congresses, universities, and conservatories, including the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, and Guildhall School of Music in London; the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria; and schools of music in Berlin, Cologne, Stuttgart, Dresden, Vienna, Prague, Warsaw, Krakow, and Hong Kong. In North America, he has performed and taught at institutions such as Eastman, Juilliard, and Manhattan Schools of Music, as well as Boston University, the University of Toronto, USC, the University of Michigan, and Indiana University.

Dr. Kosmala is a permanent jury member of some of the most prestigious international competitions, including the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition in the Isle of Man, the Geneva International Viola Competition in Switzerland, the International Viola Competition in Munich, the International Competition in Markneukirchen, Germany, the International Chamber Music Competition in Trapani, Italy, the Primrose International Viola Competition in the United States, the International Brahms Viola Competition in Austria, the International Viola Competition in Bled, Slovenia, and the Concert Artist Guild International Competition in New York City.

In addition to performing, he has adapted and published numerous compositions for viola and premiered many contemporary works, several written especially for him. A former member of the Krakow String Quartet and the renowned Eastman String Quartet, Kosmala was a student and assistant to the legendary William Primrose. He is a graduate of the Krakow Academy of Music, the Eastman School of Music, and Indiana University.

Kosmala is a professor of viola at the University of California, Irvine, and a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London.