Kinga Augustyn Biography

Kinga Augustyn is a versatile, New York City–based virtuoso concert violinist and recording artist celebrated for her stylish, vibrant musicianship (The Strad) and “beyond amazing… one hell of a violinist!” (Fanfare Magazine). Known for her rare combination of technical command, artistic depth, and emotional sincerity, she brings a uniquely personal voice to every performance.

Ms. Augustyn has appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia, including the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Queens Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, Magdeburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Leopoldinum, Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra, MAV Symphony Orchestra of Budapest, and the Orquesta Sinfónica in Santiago, Chile. She has toured China extensively, performing in major venues such as Beijing’s Poly Theater and the Shanghai Oriental Art Center.

As a recitalist and chamber musician, she has appeared at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium and Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Aspen Music Festival, the Chicago Cultural Center, Teatro Ristori (Verona), Teatro La Fenice (Venice), and Teatro dal Verme (Milano). In addition to concerto and duo repertoire, Ms. Augustyn is noted for her commanding unaccompanied solo violin performances, as well as her work on the baroque violin.

Critics frequently praise Augustyn’s profound musical interpretations, deft phrasing, luminous tone, and exceptional bow mastery. MusicWeb International describes her Bruch Concerto with the Janáček Philharmonic as “extremely moving and expressive,” marked by “beauty, richness and smoothness of tone,” and a response that feels “deeply personal and emotional.” Fanfare Magazine writes, “With completely secure technical control, she couples a tapestry of tone color to her innate musicality.”

A hallmark of Augustyn’s artistry is her extraordinary stylistic range—from early baroque to contemporary—and her ability to communicate with clarity and direct emotional truth. A passionate advocate for new music, she has premiered and recorded numerous works written for her. She also champions lesser-known composers, especially from her native Poland. Her three albums of Polish music, including Grażyna Bacewicz: A Portrait (Centaur, 2022) and two Naxos releases featuring world premieres by Romuald Twardowski and a collection of Polish violin works, have earned praise as “fascinating” (The Strad) and have established her as “an ambassador of Polish culture” (Ruch Muzyczny).

Her discography additionally includes Turning in Time, a critically acclaimed album of 20th- and 21st-century unaccompanied violin works (Penderecki, Carter, Berio, Yun, Kaye, Bacewicz), which Gramophone called “remarkable,” praising her “vibrant intensity… bold focus… and caressing of phrases.” Other recorded highlights include The Paganini Caprices, considered by critics “an enduring benchmark” (Classical Net); La Pasión (Piazzolla Tango-Etudes); Telemann’s 12 Fantasias for Solo Violin (Centaur); and Glen Roven’s Runaway Bunny Concerto with Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Ms. Augustyn has earned numerous international honors, including First Prizes at the Alexander & Buono International String Competition, Artist International Presentations, and the J.S. Bach Competition (Poland), as well as top prizes at the Johannes Brahms Competition (Austria), Kloster Schöntal Competition (Germany), Michael Hill Competition (New Zealand), and the Kosciuszko Foundation Wieniawski Violin Competition (USA). She has been recognized as both “The Outstanding Pole in the USA” and a laureate of the Ministry of Culture’s “Young Poland” award.

She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School (studying with Cho-Liang Lin and Naoko Tanaka as a full-scholarship recipient) and a Doctorate from Stony Brook University (under Phil Setzer and Pamela Frank, also with full scholarship and assistantship). Earlier, she completed the Karol Szymanowski School of Music in Wrocław a year early while simultaneously studying with Pertu Munteanu at the Rostock University of Music and Drama.

Ms. Augustyn performs on a Joseph Gagliano violin (1774) and bows by François Peccatte and François Xavier Tourte. For historically informed baroque performance, she plays a specially designed violin by Lukas Wroński, inspired by the statue of Venus de Milo.

A dedicated educator, Dr. Augustyn gives masterclasses worldwide, including recent engagements at Amherst College, Florida Gulf Coast University’s Bower School of Music, the Academy of Music in Wrocław, and the Music Conservatory of Mayor University in Santiago. She maintains a private studio in New York City and serves on the violin faculty at Queens College’s Aaron Copland School of Music. Her students are frequent winners of national and international competitions and scholarships.

With a unique blend of virtuosity, artistic curiosity, emotional authenticity, and cultural advocacy, Kinga Augustyn continues to shape a powerful and distinctive voice in today’s violin world.