Łukasz Frant
Cello player, soloist and chamber musician, cello concertmaster National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice. He graduated from the Academy of Music in Katowice in the class of Prof. Paweł Głombik. He took part in master classes with Peter Wispelwey, Tsuyoshi Tsu-Tsumi and Heidi Litschauer.
Four times he was a holder of scholarship granted by Minister of Art and Culture, Yamaha Foundation for Poland, President of the City of Katowice, the Hugo Kołłątaj Foundation, Lions Club and the programme "Young Poland" of the National Culture Centre.
He is the winner of first and second prizes of many cello competitions for young musicians in Poland and abroad (Croatia, Hungary, Dresden, Liezen in Austria, Elbląg, Poznań) and a winner of the 2nd prize of the D. Danczowski Competition in Poznań (2003), the 1st prize in the 1st Competition for Cello Solo in Katowice (2004), the winner for the grant of Yamaha Foundation Poland (2004).
He was awarded as the best Polish artist in the Lutosławski International Competition in Warsaw (2005). Together with "Trio Artis" he won the 1st prize in Hradec (Czech Republic, 2004) at the 43rd L. van Beethoven International Competition, and in duet with his wife he was a finalist of the 29th International Chamber Music Competition "Premio Vittorio Gui” in Florence in 2005.
He gives recitals as a soloist, chamber musician and as a soloist with orchestras. His repertoire comprises also music of the 20th and 21st centuries (award in the Competition for Modern Music Interpretation in Radziejowice, a concert with the Silesian Quartet on "First Performance Festival" in Katowice in 2005). He took part in many modern music festivals such as Intersonanzen Festival Potsdam, Unerhoerte Musik Berlin, Poznan Spring, Warsaw Autumn, Silesian Days of Modern Music and others.
He took part in numerous cello courses and orchestra festivals in Poland and abroad, including those in Zakopane, Łańcut, Żagań, and in Switzerland (St Moritz), USA (Idyllwild), Germany (Bayreuth), and together with his wife in Italy (Scuola Internazionale di Musica da Camera del Trio di Trieste ).
In 2005 Lukasz, as a youngest in a history, has became principal cellist of National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice and also a teacher in Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice.