Jan Snakowski, previously the principal violist of the Polish National Opera, has won the role in Berlin
Polish violist Jan Snakowski has been appointed solo viola at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He will share the position with violist Andrei Gridchuk.
Snakowski has previously served as solo viola in several other European orchestras, most recently with the Polish National Opera. He was also principal of the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana from 2018 to 2022 and of the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen from 2016 to 2018.
He has been a guest principal at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Wiener Symphoniker, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, working with conductors including Lorin Maazel, Paavo Järvi, Manfred Honeck, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and others.
Snakowski studied at the Haute École de Musique in Lausanne, Switzerland, and at the Academy of Music in Cracow, Poland, where he received a degree of doctor of musical arts in 2024. He is also an alumnus of the Verbier Festival Academy, where he worked with, among others, Tabea Zimmermann, Nobuko Imai and Lawrence Power.
He won first prize at the 21st International Johannes Brahms Competition in Pörtschach, Austria, and has performed as a soloist with several European orchestras.
As a teacher, he holds masterclasses at the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana and has tutored viola and chamber music classes at the Academy of Music in Cracow. In 2023, he was the resident teacher at the Sinfónica Azteca education programme in Mexico.
No comments yet