The 27th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition for Children and Youth, Szafarnia 2019

Departures points:
Toruń: CKK Jordanki, Aleja Solidarności 1-3
Golub-Dobrzyń: Starostwo Powiatowe, Plac 1000-lecia 25

WEDNESDAY 15 ^th MAY 2019
Toruń → Golub Dobrzyń – 4.30 p.m.
Golub Dobrzyń → Toruń – around 8.00 p.m.

THURSDAY 16^th MAY 2019
Toruń → Szafarnia – 06.50 a.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 07.35 a.m.)
Toruń → Szafarnia – 12.00 p.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 12.45 p.m.)
Szafarnia → Toruń – around 2.30 p.m
Szafarnia → Toruń – around 7.30 p.m.

FRIDAY 17^th MAY 2019
Toruń → Szafarnia – 06.20 a.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 07.05 a.m.)
Toruń → Szafarnia – 12.00 p.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 12.45 p.m.)
Szafarnia → Toruń – around 2.30 p.m.
Szafarnia → Toruń – around 7.45 p.m.

SATURDAY18^th MAY 2019
Toruń → Szafarnia – 06.30 a.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 07.15 a.m.)
Toruń → Szafarnia – 12.00 p.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 12.45 p.m.)
Szafarnia → Toruń – around 2.30 p.m.
Szafarnia → Toruń – around 7.00 p.m.

SUNDAY 19^th MAY 2019
Toruń → Szafarnia – 9.30 a.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 10.15 a.m.)
Toruń → Szafarnia – 10.30 a.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 11.15 a.m.)
Szafarnia → Toruń – around 3.00 p.m.

There is a possibility of additional piano practices in Toruń, Golub-Dobrzyń and Kowalewo Pomorskie from 15^th to 18^th May.

Toruń
15 ^th May (Wednesday) 8.00 a.m. – 8.00 p.m.
16 ^th May (Thursday) 8.00 a.m. – 8.00 p.m.
17 ^th May (Friday) 8.00 a.m. – 8.00 p.m
18 ^th May (Saturday) 8.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m.

Zespół Szkół Muzycznych im. Karola Szymanowskiego
ul. Szosa Chełmińska 224/226
87-100 Toruń
a.nowakowska@zsm.torun.pl

Golub-Dobrzyń
15^th May (Wednesday) 2.00 p.m. – 8.00 p.m.
16 ^th May (Thursday) 2.00 p.m. – 8.00 p.m.
17 ^th May (Friday) 2.00 p.m. – 8.00 p.m.
18 ^th May (Saturday) 09.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m.

Zespół Szkół Nr 3
Konopnickiej 15
87-400 Golub-Dobrzyń
tel. 53 53 53 977

Kowalewo Pomorskie
15 ^th May (Wednesday)
16 ^th May (Thursday)
17 ^th May (Friday)

Publiczna Szkoła Muzyczna I Stopnia w Kowalewie Pomorskim
Odrodzenia 7
87-410 Kowalewo Pomorskie
tel. 535 353 786

The Organiser provides a lunch for the participant on the day of the audition in the Chopin Centre in Szafarnia.

Dinner will be issued:
on Thursday (16.05) from 1.00 p.m. to 3.30 p.m.
on Friday (17.05) from 1.00 p.m. to 3.30 p.m.
on Saturday (18.05) from 1.00 p.m. to 3.30 p.m.
on Sunday (19.05) from 2.00 p.m. to 3.00 p.m.

There is a possibility to buy lunches. (price: 30 PLN)

Age Group I:
1^st Prize 1500 €
2^nd Prize 1000 €
3^rd Prize 800 €
4^th Prize 600 € (prize funded  by Angel Tellechea Goyena –Honorary Consul of Poland in Navarra, Basque Country and La Rioja)
5^th Prize 500 € (prize funded  by Tadeusz Pająk – Honorary Consul of Finland in Toruń)
6^th Prize 400 € (prize funded  by Candellana Marek Kaliński)

Age Groups II and III:
1^st Prize 2000 €
2^nd Prize 1500 €
3^rd Prize 1000 €

Additionalprizes:
Prize of the Chopin w Ogrodzie Sztuk Foundation (concert in Szafarnia, August 11th 2019)
Prize of the Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina (concert in Żelazowa Wola, June 2nd 2019)
Prize of the György Ferenczy Foundation in Budapest for the best performance of a Fryderyk Chopin’s piece and an invitation to Hungary
Prize of the Music Academy’s Rector in Bydgoszcz in the character of half recital at the academy legal address

(Tuesday – Friday, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm):
Polish: 00 48 56 682 79 30, 00 48 784684945
English: 00 48 668 494 325
konkurs@szafarnia.art.pl

The nearest airports:
Bydgoszcz Airport
Warsaw Chopin Airport
Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport 

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.

Transport  from: Toruń (CKK Jordanki, Aleja Solidarności 1-3), Golub-Dobrzyń (Starostwo Powiatowe, Plac 1000-lecia 25) to Szafarnia and back.

WEDNESDAY 15 ^th MAY 2019
Toruń → Golub Dobrzyń – 4.30 p.m.
Golub Dobrzyń → Toruń – around 8.00 p.m.

Transport  from: Toruń (CKK Jordanki, Aleja Solidarności 1-3), Golub-Dobrzyń (Starostwo Powiatowe, Plac 1000-lecia 25) to Szafarnia and back.

THURSDAY 16^th MAY 2019
Toruń → Szafarnia – 06.50 a.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 07.35 a.m.)
Toruń → Szafarnia – 12.00 p.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 12.45 p.m.)
Szafarnia → Toruń – around 2.30 p.m.
Szafarnia → Toruń – around 7.30 p.m.

Transport  from: Toruń (CKK Jordanki, Aleja Solidarności 1-3), Golub-Dobrzyń (Starostwo Powiatowe, Plac 1000-lecia 25) to Szafarnia and back.

FRIDAY 17^th MAY 2019
Toruń → Szafarnia – 06.20 a.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 07.05 a.m.)
Toruń → Szafarnia – 12.00 p.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 12.45 p.m.)
Szafarnia → Toruń – around 2.30 p.m.
Szafarnia → Toruń – around 7.45 p.m.

Transport  from: Toruń (CKK Jordanki, Aleja Solidarności 1-3), Golub-Dobrzyń (Starostwo Powiatowe, Plac 1000-lecia 25) to Szafarnia and back.

SATURDAY18^th MAY 2019
Toruń → Szafarnia – 06.30 a.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 07.15 a.m.)
Toruń → Szafarnia – 12.00 p.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 12.45 p.m.)
Szafarnia → Toruń – around 2.30 p.m.
Szafarnia → Toruń – around 7.00 p.m.

Transport  from: Toruń (CKK Jordanki, Aleja Solidarności 1-3), Golub-Dobrzyń (Starostwo Powiatowe, Plac 1000-lecia 25) to Szafarnia and back.

SUNDAY 19^th MAY 2019
Toruń → Szafarnia – 9.30 a.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 10.15 a.m.)
Toruń → Szafarnia – 10.30 a.m. (Golub-Dobrzyń 11.15 a.m.)
Szafarnia → Toruń – around 3.00 p.m.

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.

Aamong his generation of concert artists, pianist Awadagin Pratt is acclaimed for his musical insight and intensely involving performances in recital and with symphony orchestras. Born in Pittsburgh, Awadagin Pratt began studying piano at the age of six. Three years later, having moved to Normal, Illinois with his family, he also began studying violin. At the age of 16 he entered the University of Illinois where he studied piano, violin, and conducting. He subsequently enrolled at the Peabody Conservatory of Music where he became the first student in the school’s history to receive diplomas in three performance areas – piano, violin and conducting. In recognition of this achievement and for his work in the field of classical music, Mr. Pratt received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Johns Hopkins as well as an honorary doctorate from Illinois Wesleyan University after delivering the commencement address in 2012. In 1992 Mr. Pratt won the Naumburg International Piano Competition and two years later was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Since then, he has played numerous recitals throughout the US including performances at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall and the NJ Performing Arts Center. His many orchestral performances include appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra and the Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Baltimore, St. Louis, National, Detroit and New Jersey symphonies among many others. Summer festival engagements include appearances at Ravinia, Blossom, Wolftrap, Caramoor and Aspen and the Hollywood Bowl. Internationally, Mr. Pratt has toured Japan four times and performed in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Israel, Columbia and South Africa. Recent and upcoming appearances include recital engagements in Baltimore, La Jolla, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Ravinia, Lewes, Delaware, Duke University and at Carnegie Hall for the Naumburg Foundation; as well as appearances with the orchestras of Cincinnati, Indianapolis, North Carolina, Utah, Richmond, Grand Rapids, Memphis, Fresno, Winston-Salem, New Mexico, Rockford,  and Springfield, OH. He also serves on the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina where he coaches chamber music, teaches individual pianists and performs chamber music and concertos with the festival orchestra. Also an experienced conductor, Mr. Pratt has conducted programs with the Toledo, New Mexico, Vancouver WA, Winston-Salem, Santa Fe and Prince George County symphonies, the Northwest Sinfonietta, the Concertante di Chicago and several orchestras in Japan. A great favorite on college and university performing arts series and a strong advocate of music education, Awadagin Pratt participates in numerous residency and outreach activities wherever he appears; these activities may include master classes, children’s recitals, play/talk demonstrations and question/answer sessions for students of all ages. He is also frequently invited to participate on international competition juries, such as the Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Israel, the Cleveland International Piano Competition, Minnesota e-Competition, the Unisa International Piano Competition in International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz in the Ukraine. In November 2009, Mr. Pratt was one of four artists selected to perform at a classical music event at the White House that included student workshops hosted by the First Lady, Michelle Obama, and performing in concert for guests including President Obama. Mr. Pratt’s recordings for Angel/EMI include A Long Way From Normal, an all Beethoven Sonata CD, Live From South Africa, Transformations and an all Bach disc with the St. Lawrence String Quartet. His most recent recordings are the Brahms Sonatas for Cello and Piano with Zuill Bailey for Telarc and a recording of the music of Judith Lang Zaimont with the Harlem Quartet for Navona Records. Mr. Pratt is currently a Professor of Piano at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. He also served as the Artistic Director of the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati and is currently the Artistic Director of the Art of the Piano Festival at CCM.

Anthony Adkins was born in England and resides in London. At the age of 17 he won scholarships to both the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. Accepting the latter, he studied for five years with Eric Harrison and Bernard Roberts. During these studies he represented the Royal College of Music in foreign tours and in master classes, including some under the direction of Nadia Boulanger. He was a finalist in the Chappell Gold Medal Competition. Soon after leaving the Royal College of Music, Anthony Adkins was awarded a London début recital at the Wigmore Hall. This concert was such a success that he was immediately invited back to give a second concert 6 months later. Anthony Adkins’ reaction to this acclaim was not what the musical world might have anticipated as he then won the coveted Chopin Fellowship from the Polish Government enabling him to work with the eminent Professor Jan Hoffmann at the Academy of Music in Kraków. On completion of these intensive studies, Professor Hoffmann’s assessment of Anthony Adkins was profoundly simple – ‘a great artist’. Since then, Anthony Adkins has played for innumerable important occasions and has frequently appeared at the Wigmore Hall and the Royal Festival Hall, London. He has toured the UK extensively and engagements abroad have included Austria, France, Germany, Holland, Hong Kong, Poland, Spain (including recently, 3 times for the Festival Musica Mallorca in Palma and Chopin concerts in Valldemossa), Switzerland and the USA. Anthony Adkins’ outstanding reviews from far and wide confirm and emphasise the extent of his formidable international reputation. Sudkurier, Germany wrote about him “A brilliant pianist” and The Daily Telegraph, UK described his performance “A virtuoso technique at the service of a perceptive musical mind”. Anthony Adkins has often played before the Royal Family in London and recently he performed in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he played Grieg’s Piano Concerto (“A stellar performance”) – The Daily Mirror, Colombo). This was followed by a private concert for the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and other foreign dignitaries. In addition to solo and concerto performances, recent concerts have also included Sarah Fox (soprano), Nadja Merzyn (soprano),  Waltraud Mucher (mezzo soprano), Shaul Kofler (cello), Corinne Larzul (flute), Juan Jose Pardo (clarinet), Emmanuel Bleuse (cello), Sophia Ackermans (soprano) and Yoon-Kwung Cho (cello). A programme about him was recorded for BBC radio; he has broadcast on Radio Szczecin and has appeared on German and Sri Lankan television. Anthony Adkins is a highly experienced pedagogue and has been invited to sit on international jury panels for competitions in Hong Kong, Germany and the UK.

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.

Federica Stellini born in 1968 in a family of musicians, Federica Stellini was introduced to music at the age of 7 years old, by her mother, pianist and piano teacher, her first musical guide. Trained at Maria Tipo ‘s school, she completed her studies at the Conservatory Luigi Cherubini in Florence – Italy, at the age of 17, obtaining the soloist piano diploma with the congratulations of the jury.  Revealing her talent since her youth, she has participated in many different national and international competitions winning the first prize at Città di Albenga, Premio Schubert in Moncalieri, Agora 80 in Rome, Città di Gallarate, Premio Schumann – Young Chang  in Macugnaga, Citttà di Stresa and Arcangelo Speranza in Taranto. She has performed as a soloist for major Italian and Swiss music associations: Lyceum in Florence, Rotary Club in Pisa, Ars Nova in Certaldo, University of Pisa, La Schubertiade , Festival of Music in Geneva and Freiburg. Chamber music also plays a very important role in the life of this pianist who has performed in different ensembles in several musical seasons: at La Croix Rouge, Espace de la Fusterie, at the Temple of Lignon, at the Piano Festival in Geneva, at the Théâtre Casino in Rolle, at the Petit Théâtre in Sion, at the University of Fribourg in collaboration with the Orchestre  OVUF. Currently she lives and works in Geneva as a piano teacher at the Conservatoire populaire de musique, danse et théâtre. Sensitive to the theme of pedagogy, thanks to the role of Dean of the piano department, she organized in 2017 an artistic exchange between the Swiss students of the Conservatory and the Music School in Toruń, Poland. During her visit in Poland she performed a concert at the Chopin Centre in Szafarnia.

Jordi Benseny Plaza is a piano teacher at the Conservatory of Music in Lleida (Catalonia, Spain). He studied in his town of Lleida with professor Alicia Font, and consistently achieved the highest grades. He graduated at the Liceu Conservatory of Music in Barcelona, where he was a student of professor Margarida Serrat. He continued his studies with other teachers in Barcelona under Leonid Sintsev, Antoni Besses, Àngel Solé and Stalisnav Pochekin. He has performed concerts in his country and abroad, especially as a solo pianist. He also has a degree in Spanish Philology by the Universitat Central of Barcelona. When he was a student he received several scholarships, by the regional government Provincial Council, by the University and by the Goethe Institut. His teaching career was developed at the Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona, at the Balaguer Conservatory and later until now at the Lleida Conservatory of Music. Until 2012 he was a member of the direction of the Conservatory in Lleida. Several of his students have followed his career in different high music schools in Europe and have won prizes in important piano competitions. Jordi Benseny has constantly been a juror in the Ricard Viñes International Piano Competition in Lleida since the outset of establishing the competition. Presently, he is the chairman and organizer of this competition and also of another international piano competition focused on young hopefuls: the Ricard Viñes Piano Kids and Youth.