Jury of the 13th Competition 2025

EWA POBŁOCKA

Ewa Pobłocka is a laureate of the 10th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (1980), where she received the Polish Radio Award for the best performance of Chopin’s mazurkas. She also won prizes at the International Gian Battista Viotti Piano Competition in Vercelli (1977) and the International Festival of Young Laureates in Bordeaux (1979).

She has performed in almost every European country, as well as in the Americas, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Africa, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Australia. As a soloist, the artist has collaborated with the London Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Bayerischer Rundfunkorchester, Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, New Japan Philharmonic, Polish Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice.

Ewa Pobłocka premiered and recorded numerous works by contemporary Polish composers, including Andrzej Panufnik, Witold Lutosławski, Paweł Szymański, and Paweł Mykietyn, with piano concertos by the latter two composers dedicated to her. Her critically acclaimed discography includes over 50 recordings, encompassing solo, chamber, and concerto repertoire ranging from the Baroque to contemporary music. They were recorded on both modern and historical instruments from Chopin’s era for labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, Pony Canyon, Victor JVC, Conifer Records, Polskie Nagrania Muza, NIFC, CD Accord, and Bearton. Ewa Pobłocka was the first Polish pianist to record both volumes of Bach’s Das Wohltemperierte Klavier (NIFC 2018, 2023). The album of the first volume was included in Gramophone magazine’s list of the 50 greatest Bach recordings in history and was also named Recording of the Month by the same magazine.

Ewa Pobłocka is an enthusiastic chamber musician and a highly regarded educator. She teaches piano at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz and has given masterclasses in numerous countries worldwide. She frequently serves as a jury member at international piano competitions, including in Hamamatsu, Tel Aviv, Ettlingen, Calgary, and Warsaw. In 2021 she participated for the third time as a jury member of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.

The artist is also passionate about writing and published essays in journals such as Zeszyty Literackie, Kwartalnik Artystyczny Wyspa and Kwartalnik Literacki Bliza. In August 2021, her first book, Forte-piano, was published by Słowo/obraz terytoria. She also hosted radio programs on the Polish Radio 2 dedicated to Bach’s music: Start with Bach (2020–2021) and Bach’s Cases (2021).