The 25th Jubilee International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition for Children and Youth, Szafarnia 2017

Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, a Polish pianist of Bulgarian origin. Graduated with distinctions from a class conducted by professor Zbigniew Śliwiński at the Higher State School of Music in Gdansk (presently Stanislaw Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdansk). She did her postgraduate studies at the Hochschule für Musik und darsteilende Kunst in Vienna in a class conducted by professor Alexander Jenner. She participated in master classes conducted by Susanne Roch, Dieter Zechlin and Georgy Sebok. Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń gives concerts in Poland and abroad. She is a co-founder of the Association of Music Lovers, which holds high level chamber music concerts and “Musica nos unit” International Festival. She was awarded with a medal of the National Education Commission and in 2005 with Gloria Artis medal and the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. Presently she is a piano professor at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. She is invited to conduct master classes in Poland and abroad, seminars for piano teachers and open lessons and consultations. She cooperates with the Centre of Artistic Education in Warsaw. She has been a jury member for numerous Polish and foreign competitions. Her students receive best awards in piano competitions in Poland and abroad, gave numerous concerts and some of them are successful in teaching in Poland and abroad. Her students include, among others, Ewa Jasińska, Krzysztof Herdzin, Rafał Blechacz, Michio Nishihara Toro, Takayuki Hirata and Paweł Wakarecy.

Izabella Darska Havasi, Izabella Darska Havasi, a graduate of the State Higher School of Music in Poznan (presently the I. J. Paderewski Academy of Music). She worked as a piano teacher at the Higher School of Ballet, the Z. Kodály Choir School, the F. Liszt Academy of Music and the King St. Stephen’s 2nd Grade Academy of Music in Budapest. She is a founder and artistic instructor of the György Ferenczy’s Foundation in Budapest. Since 2009 Izabella Darska Havasi has been a member of the International Federation of Chopin Societies. She organises Polish and international Chopin competitions, concerts, courses and other events connected with Chopin’s issues. She is a music teacher and lecturer in theory of music at the TIT Cultural and Educational Institute in Budapest. As a solo pianist, chamber pianist and accompanist she performed in Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Romania, Germany and Hungary. She has been a member of Polish and international piano competitions for many years. In 2004 she was decorated with the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. She was granted a diploma of the Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Arts for her outstanding teacher’s work and a diploma granted by Bogdan Zdrojewski, a Minister of Culture and National Heritage for her outstanding contribution to the Chopin Year.

Hui-Ying Liu (-Tawaststjerna) born in Taiwan, she is one of the best-known pianists and pedagogues in Finland. Hui-Ying Liu holds a Doctor of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy. She graduated from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and from the New York University. Her piano teachers were Martin Canin, Konrad Wolff, and Pierre Sancan; she also received coaching from renowned artists Leon Fleisher, Karl Ülrich Schnabel and Rosa Sabater. As recitalist, soloist with orchestra, chamber musician and collaborative pianist, Hui-Ying Liu has performed with conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Okko Kamu, Eri Klas, among others. She has recorded for the Finnish Broadcasting Company and the Finlandia Records.  Hui-Ying Liu was the head of the Piano Department at the Sibelius Academy for five years, and has been a permanent faculty member at the Sibelius Academy since 1984. She has co-authored a piano method Piano Key, served as a jury member in piano competitions, and also given master classes and lectures internationally. Her professional activities have taken her to England, Ireland, Germany, Spain, the U.S., Taiwan, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. She has been the main architect of such musical events as The Young Chopin Festival, the MusicPlus concerts, and the Chopin Competition for the Young Pianists in Finland. Since becoming the president of the Chopin Society of Finland in 2005, she has immersed herself in the promotion of young musicians and of classical music in general.

Maria Murawska initially studied at the State Higher School of Music in Poznan in a class conducted by Olga Ilwicka-Dąbrowska and then in the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz in a class of Professor Jerzy Godziszewski. She improved her piano skills abroad in Weimar under the supervision of Ludwig Hoffman and as a trainee supervised by Wiera Nosina in the Russian Academy of Music. Following graduation from her studies at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, she started to teach at her Alma Mater, where, between 1999 and 2005, she acted as a deputy rector for educational matters and, between 2005 and 2012, she was a rector of the Academy. In 2003 she was granted a title of professor of musical arts by the President of the Republic of Poland. She gives solo piano and chamber orchestra concerts in Poland and abroad. Maria Murawska sits on juries of numerous Polish and international competitions. She is a member of the Association of Polish Musicians, the I. J. Paderewski Musical Society in Bydgoszcz, where she has been a vice-president since 2001. She was decorated with the Silver Cross of Merit, Golden Cross of Merit and the Gloria Artis Silver Medal, a Medal awarded by the President of Bydgoszcz and a Medal awarded by the Mayor of Bydgoszcz. She also received awards from the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province and Rector of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz.

Martin von der Heydt studied piano at the Folkwang-Hochschule Essen (Germany) with Prof. Till Engel. In addition, masterclasses with Vitaly Margulis, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Jean-Philippe Collard and Leonard Stein. Martin von der Heydt’s repertoire encompasses all epochs from Renaissance music to most recent compositions, and comprises standard works as well as many rarities. In 1999, he co-founded the E-MEX Ensemble, an instrumental group entirely devoted to the performance of contemporary works. Among the numerous internationally renowned composers with whom he worked are: Henri Pousseur, Juan Allende-Blin, Aribert Reimann, Christobál Halffter, Volker Heyn, Akira Nishimura, In-Sun Cho, Michael Denhoff, Jia Guoping, Sidney Corbett, Karin Haußmann, along with distinguished composers of the younger generation. Von der Heydt has won several prizes at international piano competitions. He performed at the important music centres in Germany as well as in many European countries, the USA, Brazil, Chile, China, Korea and Japan. His concerts have been broadcasted by the WDR Cologne, Deutschlandfunk, SWF Stuttgart and Deutschland Radio Berlin. Since 2001, he has held a teaching post at the Folkwang University in Essen and has given piano master classes and workshops at German and international music universities including Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo. Since November 2011, he has been teaching a piano class at the Hochschule fuer Kuenste Bremen.

Jordi Benseny Plaza is a graduate of the Liceu Higher Conservatory of Music in Barcelona. He also studied Spanish philology. While being a student he got a scholarship from the regional government. Until 2012 he was a member of the management board of the Conservatory of Music in Lleida, where he conducts piano classes. His students study in music academies in Europe and win numerous prestigious competitions. Jordi Benseny was a member of the jury of the International Piano Competition “Ricard Vines” in Lleida several times and, presently, he is the main organizer of the competition.

Andrzej Tatarski completed his piano studies and graduated with distinctions from a class of Professor Olga Ilwicka-Dąbrowska of the Academy of Music in Poznan. He improved his piano skills during his postgraduate studies under the supervision of Professor Vlado Perlemuter in Paris. He has been conducting his artistic activities as a solo and chamber pianist for years. Andrzej Tatarski has performed in countries of Europe, America and Asia. He participates in renowned music festivals such as the Poznan Musical Spring, Warsaw Autumns, Karol Szymanowski’s Music Days in Zakopane, Wratislavia Cantans, Festival of Polish Piano Music in Słupsk, Festival of Polish Contemporary Music in Wroclaw and International Chopin Festival in Duszniki. He made a lot of first performances of contemporary works of Polish composers. His artistic works included numerous archival records for Polish and foreign radio stations, records and television and film performances. The artist sits on juries of Polish and international piano competitions, such as, among others, the Polish Chopin Competition held in Warsaw, the Ignacy Jan Paderewski International Competition held in Bydgoszcz and International Competition of Piano Duets held in Bialystok. He lectures during master classes in Poland and abroad. He was also a head of the Chamber Music Chair and Piano Chair in the I. J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznan, where he has conducted a piano class for many years.