BIOGRAPHY
Rafal Zolkos (born 1987) is one of the most active and acclaimed flautists of the younger generation, specialising in the performance of contemporary music. Having studied in Poland, Switzerland, France, and Germany, he graduated with distinction from the Zurich University of the Arts under Prof. Philippe Racine; the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, Germany under Prof. Benoit Fromanger; the Bern University of the Arts under Prof. Martin Fahlenbock; the Conservatoire de Strasbourg, France under Prof. Mario Caroli; the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris; and the Basel Music Academy under Prof. Markus Weiss.
He has been the prize winner of over 20 national and international music competitions, including the NICATI Competition in Bern, the ISCM Competition for 20th- and 21st-Century Music in Warsaw, the Tunbridge Wells International Young Artist Competition in England, the Kiefer Hablitzel Competition in Bern, the Competition for Contemporary Music in Zurich, the Concours National du Festival du Jura, and the Chamber Music Competition in Basel. He has also received several international prizes and scholarships for young artists in Switzerland, Poland, France, and England: the Fritz Gerber Prize 2015 (Lucerne Music Festival Prize), the Prix Société Générale Paris, the City of Zurich, the Polish Ministry of Culture’s ‘Young Poland’ programme, the City of Zurich Scholarship for Cultural Creators, the SUISA Foundation, Nicati-de-Luze Lausanne, the Swiss Performers’ Foundation, the Hirschmann Foundation, the Fondation Meyer Paris, the Goethe Foundation, Bruno Schuler Foundation, Georg and Bertha Schwyzer-Winiker Foundation, Pro Helvetia Foundation, Zangger-Weber Foundation, Anne-Marie Schindler Foundation, Ferenc Mako Foundation, István Kertész Foundation, Erna and Curt Burgauer Foundation, Stammer-Mayer Foundation, and the Young Artist Foundation Bern.
He has performed at major international festivals such as Tage für Neue Musik Zürich, the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, the Lucerne Festival, the Festival Baroque d’Auvergne, the ManiFeste Festival in Paris, the Meridian International Festival in Bucharest, Tbilisi Contemporary Music Evenings Festival, Festival Primavera Classica in Moscow, KAIST Festival in Daejeon, Warsaw Autumn, Musica Polonica Nova in Wrocław, Poznań Spring International Contemporary Music Festival, Donaueschinger Musiktage, and Lucerne Festival Forward. His performances have taken place in major concert halls including Tonhalle Zurich, Stefaniensaal Graz, Hagia Irene Istanbul, Smetana Hall in Prague, Konzerthaus Berlin, KKL Lucerne, Centre Pompidou Paris, Philharmonie de Paris, Britten Theatre in London, National Philharmonic in Bratislava, Vienna Konzerthaus, Fraumünster Zurich, Cuvilliés Theatre Munich, K. Szymanowski Philharmonic in Kraków, Philharmonic in Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic), Munetsugu Hall in Nagoya (Japan), Milan (Italy) during EXPO 2015, Arnold Schönberg Hall in The Hague, Kunsthaus Zurich, Penderecki European Centre for Music, Academy of Arts in Berlin, Daejeon Arts Center, Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul, KAIST, Seoul Arts Center, Suseong Artpia in Daegu (South Korea), Budapest Music Center, and Kunstraum Walcheturm Zurich.
He has collaborated with composers including Pierre Boulez, Salvatore Sciarrino, Matthias Pintscher, Dieter Schnebel, Stefano Gervasoni, Beat Furrer, Isabel Mundry, Bruno Mantovani, Vladimir Tarnopolski, Frédéric Durieux, Pierre Jodlowski, Enno Poppe, Paul Méfano, Kaija Saariaho, Wolfgang Rihm, Gottfried Michael Koenig, Toshio Hosokawa, Hans Zender, Lowell Liebermann, Peter Eötvös, Karin Wetzel, Micha Seidenberg, George Lewis, Yiqing Zhu, Eunho Chang, Dariusz Przybylski, Jaehyuck Choi, Germán Toro-Pérez, and Marcin Błażewicz, as well as conductors Howard Griffiths, Pablo Heras-Casado, Clement Power, Titus Engel, William Blank, Johannes Kalitzke, Manuel Nawri, Jonathan Stockhammer, Peter Tilling, Michael Wendeberg, James Judd, Myung-Whun Chung, Ramón Tebar, Simeon Pironkoff, Heinz Holliger, David Robertson, Mariano Chiacchiarini, Baldur Brönnimann, Lars Mlekusch, Elena Schwarz, Matthias Bamert, and Nanse Gum.
His recordings have been released by the following labels: Col Legno, KAIROS, Requiem Records, DUX, and Fondation Meyer (CNSMDP).