Maciej Kulakowski was born in Gdansk in 1996 and started playing the cello at the age of six. Currently, he is a student at the Novoviesky Music School in Gdansk and was enrolled at the Academy of Music in Mannheim in the class of Prof. M. Flaksman until 2012.

Maciej is a laureate of many competitions at home and abroad. In 2006, he took second prize at the International Cello Competition in Liezen, Austria, and first prize at the Talents for Europe Competition in Slovakia. A year later, he won third prize at the Young Musicians Competition in Tallinn. In December 2008, he scored first prize at the International K. Wilkomirski Competition for Cellists in Poznan, Poland. In 2009, he received first and special prize at the International Dotzauer Cello Competition in Dresden before winning the Young Artists Competition in Oldenburg in 2011. The artist also proved successful in several chamber music competitions.   

The young musician has appeared in numerous solo and chamber concerts, amongst others with the Capella Gedanensis, the Polish Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Polish Baltic Philharmonic. He has performed in Spain, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France and the Ukraine and enjoyed attending master classes with T. Ray, S. Firley, S. Popov, E. Bronzes, D. Hoebig, L. Lesser, Prof. Na Mu Li as well as Arto Norasa during the French Pablo Casals Festival in Prades.

Maciej is also interested in popular music. He played a key role in the world premiere of the piece “McKulak” with the Kassak Brass Ensemble dedicated to him by Tadeusz Kassak. In 2009 and 2010, he participated in the international event "Morningside Music Bridge" in Gdansk and Calgary, Canada, respectively. In October 2011, Maciej had the honor of contributing to the opening concert of the European Music Centre in Luslawice under the direction of Maestro Penderecki.  

Maciej Kulakowski was a recipient of a scholarship from the State Ministry of Culture in 2010 and 2012. In 2011, he recorded compositions by Prokofiev, Chopin, David Popper and Franz Liszt with the pianist D. Glapiak for the CD label DUX. In April 2012, he was a finalist of the Young Musician of the Year Competition organized by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland which was televised live on TVP Kultura.

March 2014