Polish-American violinist Magdalena Ryszkowski has been a member of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra since 2009 and has built an active career as an orchestral musician, soloist, recitalist, and educator.

Ryszkowski made her New York debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 2002, performing with the Montclair Chamber Ensemble under the direction of Oscar Ravina of the New York Philharmonic. She has appeared as a soloist with the Warsaw Chamber Ensemble and National Polish Symphony in Poland; the Montclair Chamber Ensemble, Montclair State University Orchestra, and Livingston Symphony Orchestra in New Jersey; and the Wayne State University Symphony Orchestra, Dearborn
Symphony, Southern Michigan Symphony Orchestra, and Macomb Symphony Orchestra in Michigan. Her orchestral experience also includes performances with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra in Connecticut and Allentown Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania, among others.

As a recitalist, Magdalena has performed at concert venues throughout the United States and Europe. Her appearances have included the Warsaw Philharmonic, Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic in Białystok, and the Warmian-Masurian Philharmonic in Olsztyn, as well as multiple appearances at the Łańcut Music Festival in Poland and the Moritzburg Festival in Germany. In her native Poland, she performed under the batons of distinguished conductors including Jerzy Maksymiuk and Zbigniew Graca and was a featured artist on the Polish television series Evening with the Microphone. Known for her expressive sound and passionate musicality, Magdalena brings a distinctive artistic voice to her performances.

Magdalena studied violin performance at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Poland, before continuing her education in the United States. She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Performance from Montclair State University and a Graduate Certificate in Orchestral Studies from Wayne State University. Her principal teachers have included Oscar Ravina, violinist with the
New York Philharmonic; Yi-Wen Jiang of the Shanghai Quartet; and Hai-Xin Wu, Assistant Concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to her performance career, Magdalena has been teaching violin at Hendrix College since 2013 and maintains a private violin studio in Little Rock. With nearly three decades of teaching experience, she has guided students who have successfully earned positions in youth orchestras and continued their musical studies at universities and in pre-professional programs.

Magdalena Ryszkowski is the creator of Soundscapes of Poland, a concert project devoted to Polish classical music, and Fire and Lyricism: Music of the Slavic World, a collaborative recital program featuring music by Slavic composers. Both projects reflect her interest in bringing Polish and Slavic repertoire to American audiences.

Magdalena performs on a c. 1775 Italian violin by Antonio Gragnani.