The 23rd International Piano Competition

Andrzej Jasiński was born on 23rd October 1936 in Częstochowa, where he studied at the Secondary Music School in the class of Stefania Borkowska. He continued his studies with Władysława Markiewiczówna at the State High School of Music in Katowice, graduating with honours in 1959. In 1960 he received the Grand Prix at the Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona. In 1960-61, he continued his studies in Paris with Magda Tagliaferro. In 1961 he appeared with the Turin RAI Orchestra under Carlo Zecchi, beginning an international stage career. He made several concert tours of the USSR, and appeared at music festivals in Czechoslovakia, Germany, Uruguay, Brazil and Japan. He has made several recordings with the Polish Radio and TV Symphony Orchestra, and the Polish Radio Orchestra. In 1962, he began his teaching career at the State High School of Music in Katowice. He has educated a large number of concert pianists and teachers, including Krystian Zimerman, Joanna Domańska, Jerzy Sterczyński, Krzysztof Jabłoński, Magdalena Lisak, Zbigniew Raubo, Rafał Łuszczewski and Beata Bilińska. He has sat in the juries of the leading international piano competitions, including the Queen Elisabeth in Brussels, Peter Tchaikovsky in Moscow, Van Cliburn in Fort Worth, and Ferruccio Busoni in Bolzano. In 1975, he made his debut as a juror at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. In December 2006, Andrzej Jasiński was awarded with an honorary doctorate of this Academy. 

Maria Murawska initially studied in the National 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 in the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, she started to teach in 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. She 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.

Uta Weyand,german born pianist. Comes from a musical family. After her studies in Freiburg/Germany, Baltimore/USA and Madrid/Spain with Elza Kolodin, Vitaly Margulis, Leon Fleisher and Joaquín Soriano Uta Weyand has had great international success giving numerous piano recitals and appearing with orchestras in most European countries, in Russia, Brazil, Cuba and the United States. 1996 she won First Prize in the José Iturbi International Piano Competition in Valencia with two special prizes: one for the best interpretation of Spanish music and the other for Spanish contemporary music. Uta Weyand received worldwide press reviews with her recordings for Hänssler Classics with music by Schumann, Mozart, Debussy, Montsalvatge, Granados and the Complete Works for Piano Solo by Manuel de Falla. She combines her dynamic concert life with pedagogical activities giving master classes and conferences in Germany,Spain, Brazil and Cuba. Uta Weyand is regulary member of international piano competition juries such as Gina Bachauer in Salt Lake City, Franz Liszt in Weimar and José Iturbi in Valencia. Uta Weyand is the founder and managing director of the PIANALE International Academy & Competition for pianists between 14 and 30 years. In addition to that, she is the initiator of an annually organized series of concerts “Schlosskonzerte Osthessen” in Germany, which provides young musicians with a high-standard performance platform.

Yves Henry, both pianist and composer, Yves Henry was trained at the Paris Conservatoire in the 1970s-80s, where he studied with Pierre Sancan and took courses in chamber music, accompaniment and choral direction as well as classes in writing, obtaining a total of seven premiers prix by the age of 22. The same year, after having worked with Aldo Ciccolini for three years, he won First Grand Prize at the Robert Schumann International Competition in Zwickau. He is now recognized as one of the specialists in the interpretation of Chopin and Liszt, in particular owing to his experience with instruments from the Romantic era. Professor at the Paris Conservatory and the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional in Paris, member of the programme committee of the Chopin Institute in Warsaw on the occasion of the Chopin bicentennial in 2010, and honorary member of the Japanese Piano Teachers Association. Yves
Henry gives numerous recitals the world over, primarily devoted to composers of the Romantic era. Regularly invited for master classes at universities in the USA, Japan and China, he sits on juries of important international competitions. In addition to his activities as a performer and teacher, he has composed several works inspired by texts of the Corsican poet André Giovanni (Les Chants Tyrrhéniens, Les Sentiers dérobés) along with chamber music pieces (Kaga Yusen for violin and piano, Suite Vénitienne for flute, cello and piano, Il soplo ligero for clarinet and piano). He recently composed a Nocturne for orchestra that was first performed in Paris and Germany in 2014.

Jordi Benseny Plaza is a graduate of 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 as 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 Tatarskicompleted 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. He 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 concerts 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 courses 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.