Slavic Sessions

It is one of the most important categories for chamber music, and the nomination alone places Mateusz Kowalski and Mak Grgić alongside the most highly regarded ensembles on today's classical scene. In 2026 the guitarists competed for the award with, among others, Neave Trio, Third Coast Percussion and Alarm Will Sound, who eventually won.

The project by Polish guitarist Mateusz Kowalski and Slovenian-born Mak Grgić was recognised not as a specialist or guitar release, but as one of the best chamber recordings of the whole year.

The Slovenian part of the programme consists of the traditional melodies Shepherd's Paths and The Mill, arranged by the Slovenian composer and pianist Leon Firšt. Alongside them you will hear Macedonian Girl and Chicho by Miroslav Tadić, a Bosnian-born guitarist and composer who has been bringing Balkan music into the concert repertoire for years.

Nineteenth-century Polish guitar tradition is represented by Jan Nepomucen Bobrowicz, one of the greatest guitar virtuosos of his era. In his Variations Op. 6 for guitar he used the melody of Là ci darem la mano, the duet of Zerlina and Don Giovanni from Mozart's opera. The same theme had earlier inspired the young Chopin's famous piano variations.

Bobrowicz also arranged Chopin's music for the guitar. These pieces recall the guitar's historical link with nineteenth-century salon culture and the attempts, made already by Chopin's contemporaries, to bring his music into the instrument's repertoire.

The album also includes the world premiere recordings of two works by Miroslav Tadić. Stana's Lament for two guitars is a deeply moving lament, while Walk Dance No. 2 uses the irregular metres typical of the region's music.

Mateusz Kowalski was born in Koszalin in 1995 and graduated with a Magna cum laude medal from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, where he studied with Ryszard Bałauszko. He has performed at the Musikverein in Vienna and the Shanghai Grand Theatre and has given concerts in New York, Los Angeles, Paris and London. He is particularly devoted to reviving the Polish guitar repertoire and creating new transcriptions. In 2023, at the Chopin and his Europe festival, he gave the first public performance of Chopin's Piano Concerto in F minor arranged for guitar and orchestra.

Mak Grgić, a Slovenian guitarist born in Ljubljana, is one of the most versatile artists on his instrument today. He combines classical repertoire with Balkan music, flamenco, contemporary music and microtonal experiments. He is a professor at the University of South Carolina and co-founder of the EuroStrings international network of guitar festivals. The nomination for Slavic Sessions was his fourth Grammy nomination, following his albums Mak Bach, A Night in Upper Town and Entourer.