Karolina Pancernaite

Karolina Pancernaite is a professional pianist based in Prague, Czechia. She is a member of the Czech Philharmonic, an active chamber musician, and experienced piano teacher.

She was born in 1995 in Kaunas, Lithuania, and started playing piano at the age of six, before going on to graduate from the Juozas Naujalis Music School in 2013. Her soloist debut came at the age of 10, with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, and several subsequent performances with the Kaunas Symphony Orchestra. 

She then studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Prof. Christopher Elton. She was accepted with an entrance scholarship, and received the Maud Hornsby Award for her excellent first-year attainment, before graduating with a 1st Class Honours degree in 2017.

Karolina then moved to Glasgow, Scotland, to study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) with Prof. Aaron Shorr and Petras Geniušas, where she was awarded a full ABRSM scholarship for her postgraduate studies. Whilst at the RCS, she won the Tony and Tania Webster Prize for rare Russian music, and received 3rd prize in the Bamber Galloway recital competition.

Karolina regularly participates in masterclasses with renowned artists such as Peter Donohoe, Yevgeny Sudbin, Lilya Zilberstein, Olga Kern, Pavel Nersessian, Daniel Shapiro, Steven Osborne, Ian Fountain, and Pascal Devoyon.

She has given solo recitals in various festivals and concert halls throughout Europe, performing in Lithuania, Denmark, Czech Republic, Portugal, Germany, Greece, Sweden, Latvia, France, and the United Kingdom. Among these have included recitals at the Farley Music Festival, 4th Aegean Arts Festival, Steinway Hall in London, Centro Cultural Belem in Lisbon, Kaunas Philharmonic Hall, and the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh.

In 2019, Karolina was selected to join the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) for 2019/20. This includes lengthy tours throughout Europe, concerts in prestigious venues such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and working with world-class conductors such as Vasily Petrenko, Ivan Fischer, and Gianandrea Noseda.  

Karolina is an avid chamber musician as well, winning 1st prize at the Musical Aquarele international chamber music competition, and 2nd prize at the International Spring Sonata Competition in Vilnius. She has given chamber music recitals in France at the Musique en Re Festival, as well as each of the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Aurora Chamber Music Festivals in Sweden. She now performs regularly with her duo partner Kristina Yorgova in the Kota Piano Duo, with recent performances at the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, and the RCS Piano Festival. The duo specialises in two-piano or four-hand arrangements of orchestral symphonic repertoire.

For all her musical achievements, Karolina received a commendation from the President of Lithuania, Valdas Adamkus. She is also a featured artist of Talent Unlimited, London.

In January 2023, Karolina secured the position of Orchestral Pianist with the Czech Philharmonic, passing her probation year successfully in early 2024.