Piotr Pawlak — one of the most versatile Polish pianist of the young generation. Winner of many international competitions, among others V Maj Lind International Piano Competition in Helsinki (2022) and XI International Chopin Piano Competition in Darmstadt (2017), laureate of Chopin Competitions in Beijing (2016), Budapest (2018) and Cracow (2019), International Competition of Polish Music in Rzeszów (2019), International Paderewski Competition in Bydgoszcz (2022) and International Chopin Competition on Period Instruments in Warsaw (2023).
After winning the competition in Helsinki, he regularly gives concerts in Finland. In 2023 he made his debut with many Finnish orchestras: Jyväskylä, Pori, Vassa, Kuopio and Kymi, performing piano concertos of Mozart, Schumann, Brahms and Rachmaninoff. He played recitals in Helsinki, Tampere and Turku and was invited to the most prestigious Finnish piano festivals, e.g. Mänttä Music Festival and PianoEspoo Festival.
Piotr also performs frequently in Poland. Last year he cooperated with Polish Chamber Orchestra Sopot, Philharmonic Orchestra of Zielona Góra, Toruń Symphony Orchestra and Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra with Chopin, Grieg and Mozart piano concertos, and performed on the oldest annual piano festival in Poland: Duszniki International Chopin Piano Festival.
He also gave a series of recitals in Japan, United States, Germany and Slovakia.
In previous years he performed at numerous musical events in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Belgium, Switzerland, Georgia, Russia and United States. As a soloist, he has played with the Warsaw National Symphony Orchestra, Lower Silesia Philharmonic Orchestra, Holy Cross Philharmonic Orchestra, West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra, Ningbo Symphony Orchestra, Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and others. He performed on such stages as Sankt Petersburg Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmonic, Sala Verdi in Milano, Teatro alla Scala and at such festivals as „Kissinger Sommer” in Bad Kissingen and „Chopin and his Europe” in Warsaw. In 2019 he embarked on a concert tour of China.
This year he performed with e.g. Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, {oh!} Historical Orchestra, Joensuu City Orchestra and Oulu Sinfonia, and played recitals in Poland, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
He began his musical education on the piano at the age of six in Feliks Nowowiejski Music School in Gdansk with Ewa Włodarczyk, and then he continued to study with Waldemar Wojtal until the end of his studies in 2021. He also graduated music school finishing in organ studies, under the tutorship of Hanna Dys, and now he studies conducting in The Stanislaw Moniuszko Music Academy in Gdansk with Zygmunt Rychert. He attended masterclasses with, among others, Kevin Kenner, Dang Thai Son, Dmitrii Alexeev, Eugen Indijc, Phillippe Giusano, Dina Yoffe, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, Wojciech Świtała and Janusz Olejniczak. This year he is also a student of the prestigious International Piano Academy Lake Como.
Piotr Pawlak tries to bring back improvisation to the classical music world. He is inspired by historically informed performances, for example playing improvised cadenzas in Mozart's piano concertos. In the Chopin Competition in Darmstadt, besides the 1st prize, he also received a prize for the best improvisation on the themes from Der Freischütz. In 2020 he was awarded 2nd prize on the „Transatlantyk Instant Composition Contest” at the International Film Festival in Katowice.
In addition to his pianistic career, Piotr has been a laureate of organ competitions and of national and international olympiads in mathematics, informatics and other sciences. After finishing his Master’s degree in Mathematics at the University of Gdansk in 2020, he is preparing a PhD dissertation about mapping class groups of non-orientable surfaces.
