Rafał Zambrzycki - NOSPR

Winner of numerous prizes including the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition and the Parkhouse Award, violinist Rafał Zambrzycki-Payne was born in Łódź, Poland. He studied with Wen Zhou Li at the Yehudi Menuhin School and at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and subsequently at the Universität der darstellende Künst in Vienna with Gerhard Schulz.

As a soloist, Rafał has appeared with the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Bournemouth Symphony, BBC Concert Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, Armenian Chamber Orchestra, Munich, and Zurich Chamber Orchestras among others. He had the honour of working on several occasions with the late Lord Menuhin as conductor. He has given Polish premieres of Hanna Kulenty’s 2nd Violin Concerto at the Warsaw Autumn Festival and the Leoš Janáček’s Violin Concerto, both with NOSPR, as well as the British premiere of Alexander Arutunian’s Violin Concerto. Other notable engagements have included a tour with the Polish Youth Philharmonic, a recording of Zbigniew Bagiński’s Violin Concerto with NOSPR, as well as performances with the National Opera Orchestra and the State Youth Orchestra in Armenia.

In 2014, Rafał was appointed the Concertmaster of NOSPR (Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra). In the years 2005-2014, he was the solo violinist/leader of the Frankfurt-based contemporary music group Ensemble Modern, as part of which he performed at many of the world’s prestigious venues and festivals. Numerous solo appearances with the Ensemble Modern have included Brian Ferneyhough’s Terrain at the Salzburg Festival, Alban Berg’s Chamber Concerto at the Schwetzingen SWR Festival and at the Alte Oper Frankfurt, as well as Darius Milhaud’s Concertino de Printemps at the Kurt Weill Fest in Dessau. 

In demand as an orchestral leader, Rafał has worked with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Kammerakademie Potsdam, as well as with the Philharmonic Orchestras in Strasbourg and Monte Carlo.

Rafał is a founding member of Dimension Piano Trio, as part of which he has given many critically acclaimed concerts, and performed Ludwig van Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with orchestras throughout Great Britain, Poland, Spain and Armenia. An avid chamber musician, he is a regular guest at festivals such as Krzyżowa-Music, Davos, Paxos and Pharos Trust in Cyprus.

Rafał’s numerous recordings have been released to critical acclaim on the EMI Debut Series, Ensemble Modern Medien, Musiques Suisse, Champs Hill and Musica Sacra labels.

In August 2026, he performed as a soloist and concertmaster at MU’s Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural concert in Sagamihara, Japan. 

Rafał is currently studying towards a masters degree in conducting at the Chopin Music University in Warsaw, in the class of Prof. Michał Klauza.