Chairman of the Jury, Artistic Director
PIOTR PALECZNY
On May 5, 2022, an honorary degree of Doctor Honoris Causa was conferred upon Piotr Paleczny during a formal ceremony at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. The promoter of this prestigious act was Maestro Krystian Zimerman.
Piotr Paleczny is one of the most outstanding Polish pianists and professors as well as a laureate of five international piano competitions. He graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, where he studied piano under Professor Jan Ekier. Artistic encounters with Artur Rubinstein and Witold Lutosławski also played a significant role in shaping his artistic personality.
The success the artist achieved at the 8th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw opened the doors to many prestigious concert halls worldwide. He was awarded the Third Prize, alongside Garrick Ohlsson and Mitsuko Uchida, the Special Prize for the Best Performance of a Polonaise, and the Witold Małcużyński Prize. These accolades marked the beginning of his international career, which continues to this day on all continents.
Piotr Paleczny has performed as a soloist with renowned orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, RAI Orchestra, Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Argentina, and Orquesta Nacional de España, among others.
The artist has appeared in prestigious concert halls, including Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, the United Nations General Assembly Hall, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Berliner Philharmonie, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Royal Festival Hall in London, and Festspielhaus in Salzburg.
He has conducted masterclasses in cities such as New York, Tokyo, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Fort Worth, Bordeaux, Paris, Seoul, Beijing, Brescia, Madrid, Amsterdam, Hamamatsu, Montevideo, and Mexico City, among others.
He is highly regarded as a jury member at prestigious international piano competitions, including the Chopin Competition in Warsaw (the last eight editions), as well as competitions in Leeds, Montreal, Moscow (the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2002 and 2019), Tel Aviv (Arthur Rubinstein Competition), London, Cleveland, Geneva, Hamamatsu, Toronto, Tokyo, Takamatsu, Seoul, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Santander, Sendai, Astana, Bonn, Bergen, Taipei, Vienna, Paris, Weimar, Rio de Janeiro, Manchester, Shenzhen, Los Angeles, and Hilton Head.
In July 2007 Piotr Paleczny served as the chairman of the jury for the prestigious Cleveland International Piano Competition, becoming the first and only Polish artist to date to hold such a position at an international piano competition in the United States.
On November 5, 2001, Piotr Paleczny was invited as a soloist to perform in the Gala Concert celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since 1993 he has been the artistic director of the world’s oldest piano festival, the International Chopin Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój, and since 2004, the artistic director of the International Paderewski Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz.
In 2015 the National Fryderyk Chopin Institute released a long-awaited CD recorded by Piotr Paleczny, which achieved great critical and audience acclaim.
Piotr Paleczny currently leads the piano class at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. His students have won numerous awards at major international and national piano competitions.
In October 2021 his student, Japanese pianist Kyohei Sorita, won the Second Prize at the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Previously, in 2005, his student Takashi Yamamoto won the Fourth Prize at the 15th Chopin Competition.
Piotr Paleczny also serves as a professor at the Talent Music Academy in Brescia, Italy, and is a member of the executive committee of the International Pianist Association.
He has been honored with numerous prestigious awards, including the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta and the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle. In September 2005, he was awarded Poland’s highest artistic distinction, the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis.
In 2013, he received the title of Honorary Citizen of the City of Bydgoszcz.
In March 2017, Piotr Paleczny received the prestigious title of Honorary Professor from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.
In April 2017, the Polish Academy of Phonography presented him with the Golden Fryderyk Award in recognition of his artistic achievements.
In 2018, he was awarded the Norwid Lifetime Achievement Award for his extraordinary contributions to the arts.
In 2019, the Government of Japan bestowed upon him one of its highest honors, the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.