Karol Sikora Soloist, Bass Clarinet

Clarinet in Sinfonia Varsovia since 2017

Karol Sikora was born in Wadowice, where he attended the Primary and Secondary State Music School, studying the clarinet in the class of Bartłomiej Kozina. Karol is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Cracow. He graduated with honours from the clarinet class of Professor Andrzej Godek.
He is a multiple laureate of international music competitions, as soloist and chamber musician. Karol Sikora has refined his skills in many master classes under the direction of distinguished musicians, including Florent Heau, Shirley Brill, Jonathan Cohler, Gabor Varga, Nuno Pinto, Kirill Rybakov, David Krakauer, Nina Janßen-Deinzer, Michel Lethiec, François Benda, Eduard Brunner, Olivier Vivares, Jean-Marc Fessard, Arkadiusz Adamski and Aleksander Romański.
Karol is an active orchestral musician, playing with, among others, the Cracow Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Beethoven Academy, the Cracow Camerata, the Kalisz Philharmonic and the Wonderful Youth Orchestra. He has played more than ten Polish and worldwide first performances  at such festivals as the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music and the Neue Musik International Festival in Darmstadt.
He has received scholarships from the Minister of Science and Higher Education (2013/2014), from Sapere Auso – the Małopolska Scholarship Foundation (2013/2014, 2015/2016), from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (2015/2016, 2016/2017) and from the Young Poland programme (2017).
In 2016 Karol Sikora was accepted into the Sinfonia Varsovia Academy. In 2017 he joined the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra as clarinettist.

Prizes and Awards

  • 2nd place in the Jupiter National Competition in Cracow (2007)
  • 2nd place in the 5th Regional Primary Music School Student Auditions in the Cracow Region in Nowy Targ (2008)
  • Honorary Diploma in the International Wind Instruments Competition in Jastrzębie Zdrój (2010)
  • 2nd place in the National Clarinet Festival in Krosno (2010)
  • Main Prize winner in the Talents 2010 Competition in Wadowice, in the music category (2010)
  • honourable mention in the National Auditions of the Centre for Artistic Education in Warsaw (2011)
  • 3rd place in the 7th National Young Instrumentalists’ Competition in Jasło (2012)
  • honourable mention in the 5th International Clarinet Festival in Szczecin (2012)
  • 2nd place in the 6th National Festival of Accordion Chamber Ensembles in Stalowa Wola (2013)
  • 1st place in the 5th Svirel International Competition and Festival in the Soloist category in Stanjel (Slovenia, 2013)
  • 1st place in the 5th Svirel International Competition and Festival in the Chamber Ensemble category in Stanjel (Slovenia, 2013)
  • 1st place in the 10th Individualis International Competition in the Chamber Ensemble category in Lvov (Ukraine, 2013)
  • 3rd place in the 15th Accordion Confrontations in Gorlice in the Chamber Ensemble category (2013)
  • honourable mention in the 10th Clarinet Festival in the soloist category in Piotrków Trybunalski (2013)
  • 3rd place in 10th Clarinet Festival in the chamber ensemble category in Piotrków Trybunalski (2013)
  • 1st place in the 11th Luigi Zanuccoli International Young Musicians’ Competition in the chamber ensemble category in Sogliano al Rubicone (Italy, 2013)
  • GRAND PRIX in the 11th Luigi Zanuccoli International Young Musicians’ Competition in the soloist category in Sogliano al Rubicone (Italy, 2013)
  • 2nd place in the 15th International Chamber Ensembles Competition in Jawor (2013)
  • 1st place in the 6th Giovani Musicisti International Competition in the chamber ensemble category in Treviso (Italy, 2014)
  • 1st place in the 6th Giovani Musicisti International Competition in the soloist category in Treviso (Italy, 2014)
  • 1st place in the 6th Giovani Musicisti International Competition in the contemporary music category in Treviso (Italy, 2014)
  • 2nd place in the 6th Svirel International Competition and Festival in the accordion chamber ensemble category in Stanjel (Slovenia, 2014)
  • 1st place in the 6th Svirel International Competition and Festival in the soloist category in Stanjel (Slovenia, 2014)
  • GRAND PRIX in the 7th Svirel International Competition and Festival in the chamber ensemble category in Stanjel (Slovenia, 2015)
  • 1st place in the Clarinet Festival in Piotrków Trybunalski (2015)
  • 4th place in the 16th Academic Clarinet Competition in Włoszakowice (2015)
  • 2nd place in the 13th Luigi Zanuccoli International Young Musicians’ Competition in the soloist category in Sogliano al Rubicone (Italy, 2015)
  • 1st place in the 13th Luigi Zanuccoli International Young Musicians’ Competition in the chamber ensemble category in Sogliano al Rubicone (Italy, 2015)
  • 3rd place in the 16th Juliusz Zarębski International Music Competition in the chamber ensemble category in Łomianki (2016)
  • 3rd place in the International Music Competition in the chamber ensemble category in Valletta (Malta, 2016)