Madelyn Kowalski
Soloist, Chamber Musician
American cellist Madelyn Kowalski grew up in a creative family on a small island in the Pacific Northwest of Washington State, surrounded by woods, sea, mountains, animals, music, and art, which all contributed to the inspiration and imagination she searches for in her work.
Madelyn began cello lessons at age seven with Mia Frederickson and Leslie Marckx. She made her concerto debut with the Cascade Symphony at age 14. In 2016, Madelyn moved to the UK to study with Alison Wells at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS). She graduated with her bachelor’s in 2020 and completed her master’s in 2022.
In January 2023 Madelyn was invited by Steven Isserlis to give a recital at the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, where her performance received the André Hoffmann prize for the best interpretation of the commissioned work for the festival: Fuego Negro, by composer Diana Syrse. She is currently a 2023 Lamp Fellow in Nova Scotia where her recent chamber music collaborators have included Kim Kashkashian, Jane Coop, Anna Han, and Catherina Lee.
Madelyn has participated at IMS Prussia Cove and the Yellow Barn Festival in Vermont for several years, and has also attended Kneisel Hall, the Birdfoot Festival in New Orleans, the Sitka International Cello Seminar and Hellensmusic. She also regularly takes part in the Open Chamber Music sessions at Prussia Cove each September. She has had the opportunity to work in masterclasses with Steven Isserlis, David Waterman, Ralph Kirshbaum, Raphael Wallfisch, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Natasha Brofsky, Joel Krosnick, David Geringas, Antônio Meneses, Bruno Delepelaire, and Zuil Bailey.
While at the RCS, Madelyn established a duo with a fellow student, pianist Maurizio Arroyo Reyes. Along with many performances throughout Scotland, their collaborations included a broadcast recital on BBC Radio 3 and a series of streamed concerts during the pandemic for Chamber Music Scotland. In 2019 they were awarded the Louis Carus Duo Ensemble Prize at the RCS for their performance of Francis Poulenc’s sonata.
In 2020 Madelyn was honored to give the Scottish premiere of Errollyn Wallen’s cello concerto with the RCS Orchestra. In her last year at the RCS she performed Haydn’s D Major Cello Concerto with the RCS Orchestra and Walton’s Cello Concerto with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. In 2019 she premiered a chamber work by Sir James MacMillan in the presence of the former Prince of Wales, now King Charles, for his 70th birthday celebrations.
She has received multiple awards including a Silver Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians, an ABRSM International Postgraduate Scholarship, the Beatrice Huntington Award for Cellists and support from the Hattori foundations. In 2018 she placed 2nd in the Concours International de Violoncelle “Tremplin” in Paris.
Along with playing the cello, Madelyn loves animals, and treasures any time spent with her two German Shepherds. She also enjoys creating watercolor paintings of animals and hopes to write and illustrate a children’s book.
Madelyn plays a David Rattray cello modeled after Guarneri filius Andreae, Cremona, 1692, and her bow is made by her brother Cody Kowalski.
Photo Credit: Katie Kowalski
