Rafal Blechacz - Artist Bio

In October 2005, uncontested, Rafał Blechacz won all prizes of the 15th Frédéric Chopin International Piano Competition. The young Polish pianist has since established himself firmly on the international concert scene and is celebrated by both the audience and the press worldwide for his profound and virtuosic interpretations. He was the winner of the Gilmore Artist Award in 2014.

Having returned to the stage after a year of sabbatical in 2016 to complete his Ph.D thesis on the philosophy of music, highlights of Blechacz’s 2019/20 season include concerts with Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Orquesta de Valencia and a tour to Berlin, Frankfurt, Darmstadt and Paris with the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra. Solo recital invitations will take him to Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium and Italy, in addition to tours in Japan, Taiwan and the USA. He also performs in duo with violinist Bomsori Kim in Spain, Italy, Germany and on tour in North America.

Blechacz has performed with such renowned orchestras as London Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, hrSinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Camerata Salzburg, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra dell' Accademia di Santa Cecilia, TonhalleOrchester Zürich, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. He gives recitals in the world’s major concert halls including Philharmonie Berlin, Prinzregententheater Munich, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Wigmore Hall London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, La Scala Milan and Konzerthaus Wien, as well as further afield in the USA and in Asia.

Rafał Blechacz is an exclusive recording artist of Deutsche Grammophon. His debut CD of Chopin Préludes won the Diapason d’Or award. His CD of both Chopin concerti with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under the baton of Jerzy Semkow was awarded the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. In 2012, his recording of works by Debussy and Szymanowski was released and received awards from Gramophone magazine and Echo Klassik. These were followed by the acclaimed release of his fifth album of Chopin Polonaises in 2013, the most recent solo CD of works by J. S. Bach released in 2017 and his duo recording with Bomsori Kim. Born in 1985, Blechacz began his studies at age five continuing his piano education in the Arthur Rubinstein State School of Music in Bydgoszcz. In 2007, he graduated from the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, in the piano class of Professor Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń.