Winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition in 1996, Rafal Zambrzycki-Payne was born in Lodz, Poland. He studied with Wen Zhou Li at the Yehudi Menuhin School and at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and subsequently in Vienna with Gerhard Schulz where he was also a scholar at the Herbert von Karajan Centre. His studies have been generously funded by various organisations including Ashurst Morris Crisp.
Rafal has performed with orchestras such as the English Chamber Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in the UK as well as with the Armenian Chamber Orchestra, Danubia Symphony in Budapest, KZN Philharmonic in Durban, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, Munich and Zurich Chamber Orchestras. He had the honour of working on several occasions with the late Lord Menuhin as conductor.
He has performed throughout Europe as well as in the Middle East, Far East, USA, South Africa and Zimbabwe in venues including the South Bank Centre, Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Barbican, Cadogan Hall, Bridgewater Hall in Machester, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Symphony Hall in Birmingham, Rudolfinum in Prague, Salle Pleyel and Opera de Bastille in Paris, Berlin Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Herkulessaal in Munich, Megaron in Athens, Teatro Monumental in Madrid and Warsaw Philharmonic to name just a few. He performed Khatchaturian’s Violin Concerto for the composer’s centenary celebr ations with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra and in 2004 gave the British premiere of Alexander Arutunian’s Violin Concerto as well as performing the work at the composer’s 85th Birthday Concert in Yerevan. In September 2009 he gave the Polish premiere of Hanna Kulenty’s 2nd Violin Concerto with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra during the Warsaw Autumn Contemporary Music Festival.
In 2004 Rafal became the Solo Violinist and Leader of the international Frankfurt-based contemporary music group Ensemble Modern, as part of which he regularly performs in many of the world’s top venues and festivals. He has performed on numerous occasions as a soloist with the Ensemble Modern (Salzburg Festival - Ferneyhough’s Terrain, Schwetzingen SWR Festival and the Alte Oper in Frankfurt - Berg’s Chamber Concerto).
An avid chamber musician, Rafal is a founding member of DIMENSION Piano Trio, winners of the 2005 Parkhouse Award. The trio has given acclaimed performances at the South Bank, St. John’s Smiths Square and the Wigmore Hall and performed the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Orquesta Odissea in Madrid as well as with Philharmonic Orchestras in Wroclaw and Lodz (Poland).
Festival performances have included the BBC Proms, Berliner Maerz Musik, Festival d’Autumne a Paris, Huddersfield, Luzern, Monte Carlo, Davos, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Euro Musica Vitae, Bastad, Banff, Domaine Forget, Paxos, Yerevan, Kastav, Warsaw Beethoven Easter Festival and Chanterelle in Poland. Recent chamber music collaborations have included performances with atists such as David Pyatt, Michael Collins, Heinz Holliger, Julian Rachlin, Radovan Vlatkovic and members of the Alban Berg, Belcea and Szymanowski String Quartets. Rafal has had performances broadcast on many radio stations throughout Europe, Asia and Australia.
Rafal’s first commercial recording was released on the EMI Debut Series featuring works by Szymanowski, Britten and Grieg together with pianist Carole Presland. His latest recording was released on the Ensemble Modern Medien label, featuring works by Bartok, Janacek, Mitropoulos and Lutoslawski performed with the Swiss pianist Ueli Wiget.
Rafal plays on a violin made by J.B.Villaume in 1844