Katarzyna Lassak is an American-born Polish virtuoso violinist and a graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music (2020), where she studied under the guidance of Professor Janusz Wawrowski and Professor Agata Szymczewska. She successfully defended her doctoral thesis with distinction in 2022, under Prof. Wawrowski's supervision. She also honed her artistry under the tutelage of Professor Krzysztof Węgrzyn and Professor Marcin Baranowski. In 2025, the critically acclaimed album “Katarzyna Lassak. Roots and Inspirations” was released through Chopin University Press. The album features the world-premiere recording of Jan Adam Maklakiewicz’s Violin Concerto No. 2 “Góralski” (“Highlander” Concerto), which Lassak recorded as a soloist alongside the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Warsaw under the baton of Paweł Kapuła. The album pairs this symphonic work with its original folk sources – traditional Podhale “tunes” performed by Lassak as lead violinist alongside her family's highlander ensemble, the Lassak “Helios” Family Ensemble from Zakopane. The recording also incorporates precious archival tracks of her great-grandfather and grandfather. For this groundbreaking project, Katarzyna Lassak was nominated for the prestigious 2026 Fryderyk Award in the category of Phonographic Debut of the Year – Classical Music.

She has performed as a soloist with numerous distinguished symphony orchestras, including the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic in Szczecin, the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Pomeranian Philharmonic in Bydgoszcz, the Oskar Kolberg Świętokrzyska Philharmonic in Kielce, the Tadeusz Baird Philharmonic in Gorzów, the Wojciech Kilar “Sinfonia Baltica” Polish Philharmonic in Słupsk, Toruń Symphony Orchestra and the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw. She also performed alongside the Warsaw Players chamber orchestra, the Tatra Climate Orchestra, and the Atom String Quartet. Over the course of her concert career, she has worked under the baton of acclaimed conductors such as Łukasz Borowicz, Michał Klauza, Paweł Kapuła, Przemysław Fiugajski, Agnieszka Kreiner, Michał Krężlewski, Adam Banaszak and Norbert Twórczyński.

Lassak uniquely and successfully bridges the worlds of a classical virtuoso and a traditional-folk ensemble leader. On the stages of Poland’s major philharmonic halls, she presents a distinctive concert programme featuring three iconic 20th-century violin concertos deeply rooted in highlander lore: Jan Adam Maklakiewicz’s Violin Concerto No. 2 “Góralski”, Grażyna Bacewicz’s Violin Concerto No. 3, and Karol Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 61. In these performances, she brilliantly contextualises the classical repertoire by preceding the symphonic works with live, traditional highlander melodies – the original sources of inspiration for the composers – performed alongside the Lassak “Helios” Family Ensemble.

She has performed at prestigious international music festivals, including the “Masters of Polish Violin Artistry” String Festival, “Emanacje”, “Gaude Mater”, “Muzyczne Przestrzenie”, “Ogrody Muzyczne”, the Piotr Janowski Festival, and the Wojciech Kilar Festival. She has performed in prominent venues such as the ROMA Musical Theatre, the Karol Szymanowski Museum at the Villa “Atma” in Zakopane, and the Presidential Palace in Warsaw.

Lassak is a prize-winner at numerous competitions; notably, at just 18 years old, she won the acclaimed “Let’s Remember Osiecka” Vocal Competition. Her recent achievements include earning 10 first prizes in national and international competitions, highlighted by the prestigious “Sabałowe Gęśle” Grand Prix for best instrumentalist at the International Mountain Folklore Festival and the “Dziadońcyn Smycek” Honorary Award. A recipient of the scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, her profound contributions to preserving regional culture were officially celebrated in 2023 when she was awarded the honorary title of “Wierchowa Orlica” (Mountain Eagle).

Katarzyna Lassak “Helios” – prym (lead violin), vocal, pastoral instruments: traditional wooden flutes, carved fiddle

Halina Maciata-Lassak – sekund (accompanying violin), vocal

Anna Lassak “Helios” – sekund (accompanying violin), vocal

Tomasz Lassak “Helios” – basy podhalańskie (Podhale double bass), vocal

The Lassak “Helios” Family from Zakopane continues multi-generational traditions of highlander music from the Podhale region (Southern Poland, Tatra Mountains). One of the great-great-grandfathers in the Lassak family, Szymon Lassak from Ząb, played the “basy” (Podhale double bass). He was also a carpenter, who, in 1904, led the construction of the historic Chapel in Jaszczurówka, which was designed by Stanisław Witkiewicz. One of Szymon Lassak's sons, Franciszek Lassak “Helios” from Zakopane (1902–1983), a remarkable “prymista” (lead violinist) and also a carpenter and tailor of “portki góralskie” (traditional highlander men’s pants), passed on his skills to his sons and grandsons: Tomasz, Janusz, and Stanisław. In the Maciata family, the highlander musician and “prymista” Józef Maciata from Biały Dunajec (1925–1998) taught his children — Halina, Stanisław, Janina, and Anna — to play the traditional Podhale music. He was also a versatile and talented carpenter, who played in regional ensembles and taught children in Biały Dunajec to play the violin. The first source mention of the Maciata family from Biały Dunajec dates back to 1621. With regard to the long-standing musical traditions of the Maciata family, it is worth mentioning a certain iconographic monument dating back to 1809. This monument is an engraving by Blumenfeld, which depicts two musicians from Biały Dunajec. They are Jan Maciata, playing the pipe, and Tomasz Maciata, playing “koza”/ “dudy podhalańskie” (the Podhale bagpipe).

Drawing from such rich traditions, the ensemble of the Lassak “Helios” Family from Zakopane has repeatedly won top prizes in traditional music competitions: the 1st prize at the National Festival of Folk Bands in Kazimierz Dolny (2023); Grand Prix “Dziadońcyn Smycek” at “Dziadońcyne Granie” in Bukowina Tatrzańska (2023); the 1st prize in the Competition of Podhale Ensembles in Nowy Targ (2023); the 1st prize at “Muzykowanie na Duchową nutę” in Czarny Dunajec (2023);  the 1st prize at “Stefaniokowe Nuty” in Leśnica (2024); and the main prize at “Przednówek w Polanach” in Kościelisko (2013). The family actively participates in the activities of the Związek Podhalan (Polish Highlanders Alliance), church ceremonies, and numerous cultural events in the Podhale region, the country and abroad. The Lassak “Helios” Family from Zakopane in an extended ensemble, consisting of Halina Maciata-Lassak and Tomasz Lassak with daughters Katarzyna Lassak and Anna Lassak, Janina Lassak (née Maciata) and Janusz Lassak with daughters Michalina Lassak and Helena Lassak, as well as Stanisław Maciata, has performed numerous times at the Carols, Pastorales and Christmas Songs Festival in Zakopane.

Halina Maciata-Lassak (b. 1962) is an ethnomusicologist, a jury member of traditional music competitions (including the International Festival of Highland Folklore in Zakopane), a bilingual teacher, a long-time music instructor of the regional groups as well as their lead violinist (“prymistka”), and a violin teacher of highlander music. Majoring in musicology, she devoted her master’s thesis at the Jagiellonian University to the traditional wooden flute without finger holes used in the Podhale region. At the age of 10, she won the “Sabałowe Bajania” competition. She is a laureate of the First “Dziadońcyne Granie,” the Festival of Polish Highlander Folklore in Żywiec, and the “Na Góralską Nutę” Band Competition in Chicago. She was a member of the following regional ensembles: “Małe Podhale” (where she was the lead violinist), the A. Skupień Florek Group from Biały Dunajec, the “Skalni” Student Group from Cracow (where she held the role of the lead violinist and music instructor for 9 years), and “Hyrni” from Chicago. During the “Poroniańskie Lato” Festival in 1984, she was officially “crowned as the lead violinist.”

Tomasz Lassak (b. 1963) is a Podhale highlander musician and a highly regarded singer. He is a graduate of the Technical School of Regional Construction in Zakopane. He was a member of the highlander ensembles “Budorze” and “Hyrni.” He was the winner of “śpiew pytacki” (male singing connected with wedding customs) and horse-drawn carriage competitions that took place at the Tatra Autumn in Zakopane. In 2023, he won the Golden “Polaniorski Zbyrcok” in the solo pastoral singing competition at “Przednówek w Polanach.” He was a soloist in the highlander opera “Holy Father John Paul II in Podhale,” which was performed, among others, at the National Opera in Warsaw, the Cracow Opera, and the Teatro Capranica in Rome.

Katarzyna Lassak (b. 1996) has won numerous awards as a soloist and “prymistka” (lead violinist in the traditional Podhale highlander music): Grand Prix “Sabałowe Gęśle” for the best instrumentalist “in recognition of verity to the tradition of performance, instruments and repertoire” at the International Contest of Ensembles, Instrumentalists, and Folk Singers named after Wł. Trebunia-Tutka (2023); the 1st prize at the National Competition “Sabałowe Bajania” (2023); the 1st prize at the Polish Highlands Folklore Festival in Żywiec (2023); the main prize at the “Stefaniakowe Nuty” Competition (2022); the main prize at the “Berdowe Muzykowanie” (2012). In 2023, she was ceremonially “crowned as lead violinist.”

Anna Lassak (b. 1999) graduated with honours from the Vocal and Acting Department at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw (2024), in the singing class of Jadwiga Rappé and Izabela Kłosińska. She is also a law graduate from the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University. She has performed at venues such as the Cracow Philharmonic and the Grand Theatre – National Opera in Warsaw. She belongs to the Klimek Bachleda Folklore Group from Zakopane. She is a laureate of “Przednówek w Polanach”, “Sabałowe Bajania”, and the International Contest of Ensembles, Instrumentalists, and Folk Singers in Zakopane. She was a soloist in the highlander opera “Pope John Paul II in Podhale.”