Tomasz Daroch

Born on June 15, 1989 in Łódź, into a family with artistic traditions. He began learning the cello at the age of 7. He studied under the supervision of outstanding cellists, Prof. Michael Flaksman, Prof. Julius Berger, Prof. Jelena Ocic and Prof. Stanisław Firlej. He also took part in many cello master classes with world-famous professors such as: Bernard Greenhouse, Miklos Perenyi, Heinrich Schiff, Frans Helmerson, Gary Hoffman, David Geringas. He graduated with distinction from the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim in Germany and the of Grażyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz Music Academy in in Łódź, where he obtained a doctorate in musical arts in 2018, and currently works as an assistant professor. Since 2019, he has also been the leader of the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra cello group.

The artist has won numerous international cello competitions, including: the 1st prize and the Grand Prix title at the 8th Witold Lutosławski International Cello Competition in Warsaw. He also won the 2nd prize at the Pablo Casals International Cello Competition in Budapest. Together with his sister Maria Daroch, he received the 1st prize in the duet category at the 18th Kiejstut Bacewicz International Chamber Music Competition in Łódź. During the 5th Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition in Zagreb, Croatia, he won the 3rd prize and the audience award. He won the 44th International Instrumental Competition in the category – cello in Markneukirchen, Germany. He also received 1st prize at the 4th Michał Spisak International Music Competition in Dąbrowa Górnicza, 2nd prize at the 5th Aleksander Tansman International Competition of Musical Individualities in Łódź and 1st prize at the International Competition of Musical Individualities in Oldenburg, Germany.

Tomasz Daroch also received many special awards, including the "Primus in artibus" diploma for the best graduate of the academic year 2012/2013 at the Grażyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź, the Marshal of the Łódź Voivodeship award in the category of "Personality of the Year", the honorary distinction "Łódź Eureka" awarded by the Council for Higher Education and Science at the Mayor of the City of Łódź, the artistic award of the Polish Academy of Sciences and a special award during the international master class "Internationale Sommerakademie Mozarteum Salzburg". He was also a multiple scholarship holder of the "National Fund for Children", the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Ministry of National Education, the Marshal of the Łódź Voivodeship, the Lions Club, the Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg and Menuhin Live Music in Germany. He received an artistic scholarship from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage twice as part of the "Young Poland" scholarship program.

He made his debut as a soloist at the age of 14 with the Arthur Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then he has performed with such orchestras as: the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Polish Radio Orchestra, the NFM Symphony Orchestra, the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Sinfonietta Cracovia, the AMADEUS Chamber Orchestra, the Heidelberger Philharmoniker, the Vienna Morphing Orchestra, the Chursächsische Philharmonie, the Varazdin Chamber Orchestra, the Zagreb Soloists, the Zagreb Philharmonic, the Moscow Virtuosi, the Dohnányi Orchestra, the Magyar Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Debrecen Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the symphony orchestras of the Poznań, Katowice, Bydgoszcz, Opole, Kielce, Koszalin, Zabrze, Zielona Góra and Wałbrzych Philharmonics.

He has worked with outstanding conductors, including: with Vladimir Spivakov, Jonathan Darlington, Giancarlo Guerrero, Cornelius Meister, Frédéric Chaslin, János Kovács, Jacek Kaspszyk, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Marek Pijarowski, Wojciech Rajski, Agnieszka Duczmal, Jerzy Salwarowski, Tadeusz Strugała, Paweł Przytocki, Łukasz Borowicz and Krzysztof Urbański. He has also performed as a soloist and chamber musician at many international festivals in countries such as Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, France, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Croatia, Hungary, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and the United States. Since 2011, he has been a co-founder of the cello quartet "Polish Cello Quartet", with which he regularly gives concerts, and annually organizes the International Cello Academy, which brings together cellists from all over the world.

Tomasz Daroch has made numerous radio and television recordings. His latest album achievements include the Fryderyk 2023 award-winning album in the Album of the Year – Solo Recital category, "Monologue" (DUX label), consisting of Polish works for solo cello, W. Lutosławski's Cello Concerto recorded with the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic under the baton of Jacek Kaspszyk (CD Accord label), as well as albums with chamber music – piano trios by C. Debussy, M. Ravel and A. Dvorak in the "Daroch Trio" ensemble (DUX label).