ASO Announces New Concertmaster - Ludek Wojtkowski
For only the third time in our 77-year history, the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of a new concertmaster, a crucial artistic leadership role in the orchestra, second only to the conductor/music director. Ludek Wojtkowski officially took the role at the ASO’s Opening Night. ASO Music Director Elizabeth Schulze commented, “I’m delighted that Ludek has assumed the ASO concertmaster position. He distinguished himself in a very competitive audition with impeccable renditions of difficult repertoire solos and orchestral excerpts. He has the experience and education necessary to fill the role admirably.”
In an orchestra, the concertmaster is the leader of the first violin section, sitting just to the left of the conductor. In this position, Ludek will not only lead the first violin section, but also play any violin solos within pieces, mark scores with appropriate bowings for the violins (to ensure they are moving and playing in unison, and playing with the same sound, articulation, and musical style), give input on repertoire, tune the orchestra before rehearsals and performances, and join the audition committee, offering feedback to the Music Director.
A violinist and composer from Tucson, Arizona, Ludek and his siblings grew up in a house filled with music and what he thought was a secret language. Ludek’s parents immigrated to the US from Poland and only spoke Polish at home. Having never heard Polish spoken anywhere else, Ludek grew up thinking it was their family’s secret language. That is, until one summer when his Dad took the family to Poland. Ludek laughed as he exclaimed, “We got off the plane and I was so surprised to hear people speaking our secret language! How did they know it?”
Ludek went on to study music performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Yale University, where he earned the Broadus Erle Prize in violin. He then joined the New World Symphony in Miami Beach under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas. While living in Miami, Ludek decided to join Lincoln Center Stage, a musical partnership between the Lincoln Center and Holland America. He sailed around the world for two years, performing in a piano quintet.
One of those trips took him up the inside passage. Upon stepping off the ship in Ketchikan, Ludek exclaimed, “it was the most beautiful place I’d ever been.” As someone who had travelled around the world, Ludek liked the “ecological mindset and the sense of maintaining nature” that he found in Alaska. It wasn’t long after that trip that he decided to relocate to Anchorage.
Ludek’s girlfriend, ASO cellist Jocelyn Schendel’s aunt and uncle are close friends with previous ASO concertmaster, Kathryn Hoffer. Upon moving to Anchorage, the pair met up with Kathryn, and she invited them to an ASO concert. Ludek recalls, “I was surprised there was a symphony orchestra in Anchorage and very impressed from the first concert I attended.” Ludek was also surprised to see Elizabeth Schulze at the podium (at that time she was the Acting Artistic Advisor and Chief Conductor). In the summer of 2011, sat as concertmaster and performed under Elizabeth’s baton while attending the Kennedy Center Summer Program.
When asked what he was looking forward to in the upcoming season, Ludek replied, “I don’t really have a favorite piece, but am looking forward to performing Schubert’s Symphony No. 5. The Anchorage Symphony is a wonderful group of musicians and I am overjoyed to be a part of it!”
