Marianna Bednarska is a young polish percussionist. She runs an active artistic activity, not only as a soloist, but also as a chamber music performer, orchestra musician and percussion teacher. She
is regularly invited to international music festivals and cooperates with recognized personalities of the musical world.
She is a Laureate of the 74th Geneva International Music Competition 2019, Winner of the Prix Credit Suisse Jeunes Solistes 2019 and a winner of 24 first prizes and special prizes at international
percussion competitions, among others in Chicago (USA 2016), Bamberg (DE, 2016), Paris (FR, 2009), Fermo (IT, 2008) or Plovdiv (BG, 2007). She is also a Finalist of the Polish Eurovision Contest ‘Young Musician of the Year 2009’.
She performed in Europe and USA making her solo debuts at international music festivals, such as the Lucerne Festival 2019, Davos Festival 2021 or Solsberg Festival 2023. As a soloist, she performed with orchestras such as Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Komische Oper Orchestra,
International Chamber Orchestra of Washington, Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra, Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra or Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw.
She is the winner of artistic scholarships in Poland, Switzerland and Germany. In 2013, she received the Polish-Danish Friendship Award for her unique artistic activity connecting both countries, and in 2017, a nomination for the award ‘Koryfeusz Muzyki Polskiej 2017’ in the Debut of the Year category.
In 2014, at the invitation of the renowned Danish composer, Anders Koppel, she was the first percussionist in a history to record the complete set of all his marimba concertos (Dacapo Records
2014) on her debut album ‘Marimba Concertos’, which received extremely positive reviews, both in Poland and abroad (including The New York Times, Gramophone or Deutschlandfunk).
As a soloist, she also took part in recordings for Bayerische Rundfunk, the Institute of Music and Dance in Poland and the PWM Edition in the artistic project ‘100 for 100. Musical Decades of Freedom’, which was honored with the ‘Fryderyk Award’ of the Polish Phonographic Academy in two
categories.
She began her artistic path with the piano, which was soon replaced by classical percussion instruments. After graduating with honors from the Karol Szymanowski Music School in Warsaw, she received with the highest marks both a bachelor’s degree from the Staatliche Hoschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart, and a master’s degree from the Haute Ècole de Musique in Geneva, where she also completed postgraduate studies in 2021.
From 2023, Marianna Bednarska holds a teaching position at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. She is a Yamaha Artist and a Kolberg Mallet Artist.