Frances Borowsky, cellist

Frances first drew the attention of great cello masters as a highly gifted and expressive young musician at the age of seven. Her meeting with legendary cellist Zara Nelsova at the World Cello Congress III was featured in a documentary film.
Since then, she has performed throughout the USA as well as Canada, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Indonesia, Japan, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Germany, Poland,  and Ukraine. Frances has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the Tianjin Symphony Orchestra, Young German Symphony Orchestra, and Towson University Orchestra with conductors Klaus Arp, Brenda Leach, and Juan-zi Yi.

Frances hails from an exceptional musical family. Her mother (Cecylia Barczyk) is a cellist and professor and her father has used music as a tool in pursuing international relations. She frequently performs together with her brother (violinist Emmanuel Borowsky) and sister (pianist Elizabeth Borowsky). Together, they are called The Young American Virtuosi. Frances is featured on “Musical Favorites of All Times,” their 2004 CD recording (ICRecords), as well as their DVD recording of the Beethoven Triple Concerto. At the age of twelve, Frances Grace Borowsky and her siblings performed their debut recital at Carnegie Hall as recipients of the Erick Friedman Prize for Outstanding Young Musicians.  Frances wowed the audience and the press and established herself as one of the leading cellists of her generation.

Shortly after meeting Frances at the World Cello Congress III, American composer Jody Nagel wrote and dedicated “Six Harmonic Etudes for a Young Piano Trio” to her and her siblings. In 2004, he wrote another Trio for this ensemble, “Fantasy Cantabile.” In 2006, Frances and her mother performed the world-premiere of Nagel's concerto for two celli, “A Ride Through The Nebula,” at the International Cello Festival in Baltimore, Maryland.

Frances began cello studies with Cecylia Barczyk at the age of four, and continued studies with her through college. At the age of 18, she graduated from the Honor's College of Towson University, where she had been granted a full scholarship. In Fall 2011, Frances commenced graduate studies as a student of Amit Peled at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. She has been mentored by cellists Janos Starker, Irene Sharp, Zara Nelsova, Alexander Huelshoff, Rafal Kwiatkowski, Gunnar Kvaran, and Michael Flaksman. She is the winner of the Baltimore Music Club Competition (First Prize, 2010), Sylvia and Irving H. Cohen Competition (Second Prize, 2010), Peggy Friedman Gordon Competition (First Prize, 2008), and Maryland State Music Teachers Association String Festival Competition (First Prize, 2006). She also received Honorable Mention in the Mary Diekmann Competition (2011) and Mary Graham Lasley Concerto Competition (2011). In the summer of 2008, Frances was awarded an Artist-in-Residence grant by the Heidelberg Arts Council (Germany). While in Germany, she and her siblings co-composed a trio, "Postcards from Dilsberg," which is available on DVD and published by ICRecords.