A native of Warsaw, Poland, Dr. Ivona Kaminska is among the most successful and recognized artist-teachers of today, evidenced by her pupils who garner top prizes in competitions each and every year. Combining the best of the Eastern European philosophy of piano education with modern American pedagogy, she has helped generations of students achieve national and international success. Excelling in preparing young pianists for success and recognition, she specializes in gifted students who exhibit a solid work ethic and strong ambition. She is adored by students for her limitless devotion, support, passion, as well as straightforwardness and sense of humor.
Dr. Ivona Kaminska Bowlby is president of the Seattle International Piano Competition and Festival, and the artistic director and co-founder of the Chopin Academy of Music. During the spring of 2019, Dr. Kaminska was bestowed the prize for the most outstanding person of Polish origin in the area of culture on the West Coast by the committee “Teraz Polska” at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles, California.
Dr. Kaminska holds the highest possible level of pianistic education with four graduate-level degrees from three countries: Poland, Canada and USA: a Masters of Arts Degree from the prestigious Chopin University in Warsaw, Poland as well as the Post-Graduate Artist Performance Diploma from the same institution, Masters of Music Degree from the University of Nebraska, and Doctorate in Piano Performance from the University of British Columbia, Canada. She has also studied at the Mozarteum Festival in Salzburg as well as Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Lübeck, Germany. Her most influential teachers were Tatiana Shebanova, Boris Bloch, Andrzej Stefanski, Henri Paul Sicsic, James Cook and Marek Jablonsky.
Aside from teaching at the Chopin Academy of Music, Dr. Kaminska worked as an instructor in the University of British Columbia, Shoreline College in Seattle and Cornish College of the Arts. She has been also invited to teach in the Tsar’s Village Festival in St Petersburg (2013), University of Southern Oregon, Cornish College Piano Institute, and Barcelona Piano Academy in Spain. She enjoys a vibrant performing career as a duo pianist with her husband, Dr. Christopher Bowlby. The duo performed in several countries, including Italy, France, Spain and Poland, aside from regular concerts in the USA.
Dr Kaminska only invites those ambitious and hard-working students who are comfortable with the hybrid manner of learning: a combination of online, in person and group classes that prepare them for concerts and competitions.
Current openings: no openings for 2024-25 year.
Do you wish to contact this instructor directly? ivona@chopinacademy.com
Additional Languages Spoken: Polish, German, Russian