About us

Kaja Nowak plays as soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe. Having made her concerto debut with the Rzeszów Philharmonic Orchestra in Poland at the age of thirteen, she has since performed with orchestras in Poland, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. As a chamber musician, Kaja has collaborated with artists such as Ivry Gitlis, Philippe Graffin, Jean-Marc Philips Varjabedian, Gary Hoffman, Nobuko Imai or Christian Ivaldi among others, as well as with many exciting musicians of her generation.

Kaja is a laureate of several Polish competitions in solo as well as chamber music disciplines, and the recipient of the Stage Personality prize, awarded upon her graduation from the Master programme in the Royal Conservatory in The Hague for her original and expressive music-making. She is also a member of the St. George Quintet, laureate of Supernova 2016 (competition co-organised by the Belgian classical music radio station Klara), praised by The Strad for their „expressive fluency and phrasing”.

Kaja studied with Robert Naściszewski in Rzeszów, with Konstanty Andrzej Kulka in Warsaw and with Philippe Graffin in The Hague and Brussels. She currently lives in Brussels and plays on a Carlo Antonio Tanegia violin. It is kindly loaned to her by Helen Brunner, to whom Kaja was for several years interpreter and assistant during her classes at the yearly Zenon Brzewski International Music Courses in Łańcut (Poland).

Belgian violinist and violist, a son of musician parents, Diede grew up in a house full of music. He received his very first violin lessons from his father. He later studied with Eric Sluys and went on to graduate with highest honours from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels in the class of Philippe Graffin. He has also followed viola lessons with Tony Nys. Diede has been awarded many prizes for his solo and chamber music performances, most recently in the Supernova competition 2019 (co-organised by the Belgian classical music radio stations Klara and Musiq3) together with his duo partner, pianist Claus Vermeulen.

This resulted in a CD recording for the label Etcetera. Diede is also the violinist of Tmesis Ensemble (also laureates of the Supernova competition), and was also awarded the 1st Prize in the Dexia Classics competition in 2010 and the Mathilde Horlait-Dapsens Prize for his final recital at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. As a violist, apart from being a member of the Karski Quartet, Diede has recently joined the St. George Quintet.
Diede has been invited to perform in chamber music festivals in Belgium and abroad, such as Resonances, Ysaye’s Knokke, Midis-Minimes, Klarafestival, Schiermonnikoog, Harmos; he has also performed in Concertgebouw Brugge and De Singel (Antwerp). Diede’s violin playing can be heard on the debut CD of Tmesis Ensemble, “Echoes”, featuring pieces by Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Ravel, Schönberg, and the Belgian contemporary composer Frederik Neyrinck. As a violist, he can be heard on the recently released “Bohemia Express” CD album, featuring music by Dvořák, Janáček and Suk, recorded by the St. George Quintet. Diede has been inspired by many musicians, among them Marc and Guy Danel, Amy Norrington, David Waterman, Donald Grant, Pavel Fischer, Ursula Smith… Apart from the classical music repertoire, Diede feels very much drawn to the worlds of folk music, jazz and free improvisation. He is a member of the folk ensemble Roots, who have toured in Flanders and recorded two CD albums (“Point Blue” and “Rewind”). Diede is also a member of the country band The Dusty Millers.