Krysia Osostowicz FGS

Biography

Krysia Osostowicz performs worldwide as leader of the internationally renowned Brodsky Quartet. Based both in London and in Cornwall, she enjoys organising concerts, masterclasses and music courses. She has taught at GSMD since 1987, and is equally committed to teaching violin and coaching chamber music.

Krysia has performed all the major concertos with orchestra, ranging from Bach to Beethoven and Berg. Her many chamber music and solo recordings have won awards such the Gramophone Award, DeutscheSchallplattenPreis and Diapaison d’Or. In the 1980’s she co-founded the pioneering group Domus, which travelled the world with its own portable concert hall. In 1995 she formed the Dante Quartet, winning the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Chamber Music. She joined the Brodsky Quartet in 2021, and is relishing further immersion in the quartet repertoire, giving concerts throughout Europe as well as in Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and China.

Krysia studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School, at Cambridge University and in Salzburg with the eminent violin virtuoso and quartet leader Sandor Végh. Her other main influences come from Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Ferenc Rados and Radu Lupu, with whom she studied a wide range of sonatas.

She is indebted to the Alexander Technique for heightening awareness of the use of the body in music-making, and runs a highly popular course each year in Cornwall called “Music Embodied!” which includes other therapeutic disciplines such as physiotherapy, yoga and shiatsu.

As a teacher, Krysia focuses on building a secure technical foundation, searching for each person’s individual sound, and developing an understanding of harmony and musical structure as a vital aspect of interpretation.