Katarzyna Budnik graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw from the violin class of Professor Mirosław Ławrynowicz, Andrzej Gębski and Janusz Wawrowski, and from the viola class of Professor Piotr Reichert. She is currently employed at her alma mater as assistant lecturer.
In September 2013 Budnik won 3rd prize in the prestigious ARD competition in Munich. She was also successful in many competitions in Poland and abroad, including the 47th Ludwig van Beethoven competition in Hradec (2008, 1st prize), 15th Johannes Brahms International competition in Pörtschach (2008, 1st prize), 8th Jan Rakowski National Viola Competition (2008, 1st prize), the Max Rostal International competition in Berlin (2009, 2nd prize), Max Reger International Chamber Music Competition in Sondershausen (2009, 2nd prize and special prize for the best performance of Max Reger’s suite for viola solo) and the 4th Michał Spisak International Competition (2010, 2nd prize and special prize).
She has performed many times as soloist and in chamber ensembles in Poland and in many countries in Europe. In 2010 she was involved in the Chamber Music Connects the World project, organised by the Kronberg Academy, where she performed with some of the greatest musicians in the world, including Gidon Kremer, Tatiana Grindenko, Yuri Bashmet and Frans Helmerson.
She has also performed at many renowned festivals, including the Music Festival in Łańcut, at the “Muzyka na Szczytach” [Music from the Mountaintops] International Chamber Music Festival in Zakopane and at the Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus (to which she was invited by Gidon Kremer).
Released in November 2013, her solo album (“Viola Recital”) was nominated for the Fryderyk 2014 award.
For her outstanding achievements Katarzyna Budnik received a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. She has also received a scholarship from the “Młoda Polska” [Young Poland] program. In 2013 she was nominated for “Polityka” magazine’s Passport award.
She has been the principal viola leader in the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra since 2014.
