Tomasz Zięba is a cellist, educator, and orchestra leader whose career spans the concert stage, the university studio, and the management of musical organizations. For nearly two decades he served as Associate Principal Cello of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and as a member of the cello and chamber music faculty at Oklahoma City University’s Wanda L. Bass School of Music, where he rose to the rank of Associate Professor. In 2017 he founded the Oklahoma Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, which he led as Executive and Music Director until 2023.
Oklahoma Virtuosi is an eighteen-member professional string orchestra that performs without a conductor. Under Zięba’s leadership, the ensemble presented six-concert seasons that blended classical and non-classical repertoire, appeared at venues including Oklahoma Contemporary, 21c Museum Hotel, and the Magnolia Room, and drew sold-out audiences to Oklahoma Contemporary Te Ata Theater. Building the organization from the ground up, he guided the creation of its board of directors and nonprofit structure, oversaw its budget and staff, and grew its annual fundraising from zero to $130,000 per season.
Zięba’s leadership extends to orchestral governance and arts education. At the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, he served on the orchestra’s audition committees. At Oklahoma City University, he chaired a faculty search, served on the university’s retention committee, and organized international recruitment auditions in Poland and China; the auditions in Poland alone brought more than seventy students to the School of Music. In 2017 he also founded the Hello-Cello International Festival in Kraków, bringing together guest faculty and emerging musicians for masterclasses, ensemble work, and a closing concert at the National Museum in Kraków. Most recently, he founded UnivArtis, a platform that connects music students, professors, and institutions of higher education across borders.
As a performer, Zięba has served as principal cellist of the Irving Symphony Orchestra and co-principal cellist of the Plano Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared with the New World Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Abilene Philharmonic, and Kraków Philharmonic. A dedicated chamber musician, he has performed with the OCU Faculty String Quartet, Brightmusic Ensemble, the Classen Trio, and the Tactus Ensemble. His recitals and masterclasses have taken him to Spain, Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, China, and his native Poland, with engagements at the European Musical Workshops in Poland, the Oficina de Música de Curitiba in Brazil, Musicalis Daunia in Italy, and the OCU Summer Music Festival, as well as solo recital tours of China.
As a teacher, Zięba has guided cellists from their first auditions to professional careers. At OCU he created and coached the graduate string quartet program and founded the Cellovoce cello ensemble, whose performances reached campus and community audiences, including an appearance at an Oklahoma City Thunder game. His students have earned places in All-State orchestras, won local and national competitions, and gone on to leading music programs, professional orchestras, and teaching positions.
Born in Kraków, Poland, Zięba began studying the cello at age seven at the Karłowicz School of Music and continued at the Academy of Music in Kraków with Prof. Henryk Zarzycki. In 1993 he came to the United States on a full artistic scholarship, earning a Bachelor of Music from Texas Christian University and a Master of Music and Artist Certificate from Southern Methodist University, where he studied with John Burton, Ko Iwasaki, and Christopher Adkins. He also worked with Stephen Geber, Ron Leonard, Desmond Hoebig, and Brinton Smith in lessons and masterclasses, and later completed graduate coursework in leadership and communication at OCU’s Meinders School of Business.
Throughout his work as a performer, teacher, and leader, Zięba has sought to use music to build community and connect people across cultures.
He performs on a cello made by Schweitzer in 1880.
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© Tomasz Zięba