Krystian Tkaczewski , Piano

Biography

Described by the Kosciuszko Foundation as a "Polish virtuoso," Krystian Tkaczewski is pursuing his successful piano career in both the United States and Europe. He made a triumphant debut in Carnegie Hall in April 2007, about which New York Concert Review critic Anthony Aibel wrote:  "Tkaczewski was elegant, showed in-depth knowledge, played with passion, [and] showed power-house technique … He shows a natural affinity for music of his homeland..."

Krystian Tkaczewski was born in 1980 in Tarnów, Poland, and started his musical education at the Paderewski Music School in Tarnów.  From 1995 to 2000, he studied at the Chopin College in Warsaw, and in 2000 he became a student at the Academy of Music in Wroclaw, earning a Master of Arts degree. In 2007, he received a Graduate Professional Diploma from the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford.  He currently is pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Hartt School in the studio of Oxana Yablonskaya.

His performing career has brought Mr. Tkaczewski to the stages of 15 countries.  He has concertized with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Polish National Radio Orchestra, Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Connecticut Virtuosi.  His festival appearances include the Chopin Festival in Gaming, Austria; Chopin Festival in Antonin, Poland; Musical Floraries in Warsaw, and the Chopin Forum in Wroclaw.  He has concertized at the Paderewski House, and given recitals at the Chopin House in Zelazowa Wola. In June 2006, Mr. Tkaczewski was featured at the Royal Castle for the 50th Anniversary of the Society of Polish Artist Musicians gala, where he soloed with the Polish Radio Orchestra.

Mr. Tkaczewski is an award winner in numerous competitions, including the Grand Prize in the 2001 European Piano Competition of Bari, Italy; winner of the 2006 Artists International auditions in New York; and First Prize in the 2009 American Protégé Piano and Strings Competition.  His scholarships include the Chopin Scholarship in 1995, the Polish Minister of Culture Scholarship in 2002, 2005, and 2007, Musical Club of Hartford 's E.B. Storrs Scholarship in 2005, and the Scholarship of Polish Students Organization in New York.

Krystian Tkaczewski has been an active member of the Society of Polish Artistic Musicians since 2004.  He also founded – and served as artistic director and jury president of – the First Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford.