The Academy of Music in Poznań boasts collaboration with a substantial number of outstanding pianists. During the interwar period, in the State Conservatory of Music established in 1920, piano classes were taught by Gertruda Konatkowska and Zbigniew Lisicki. In the post-war years, the professorial staff included Raul Koczalski, Stanisław Szpinalski, and Władysław Kędra. Olga Iliwicka-Dąbrowska was affiliated with the Poznań Academy for nearly 30 years while Halina Czerny-Stefańska (1977-1981), an outstanding pianist and winner of First Prize at the 4th International Chopin Competition, collaborated with the Academy for several years. In 1958, the then State Higher School of Music in Poznań established the Department of Piano with Professor Wacław Lewandowski as its first Head (1958-1961). In the following years this position was held by Prof. Gertruda Konatkowska (1961-1966), Prof. Olga Iliwicka-Dąbrowska (1966-1979), Prof. Jan Janski (1979-1985), Prof. Waldemar Andrzejewski (1885-1999), Prof. Andrzej Tatarski (1999-2005), Prof. Alicja Kledzik (2005-2016) and Prof. Anna Organiszczak (2016-2024). As of 2024, tthe Department has been headed by dr Jacek Kortus.

The Department of Piano is one of the departments operating within the Institute of Instrumental Music of the I.J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań. The statutory task of the Department is to organize and carry out artistic, research and academic work as well as supervise teaching in the field of piano performance in order to ensure the highest quality of teaching. At the invitation of the Department, piano master classes for students were conducted by such pianists as Đặng Thái Sơn, Philippe Giusiano, Bruno Canino, Martin Hughes, Tim Owens, Ronan O’Hora, Viera Nossina, Etella Czupryk, and Andrzej Jasiński.

The Department is involved in artistic and academic research activities; it organizes numerous concerts attended by students and teachers, master classes and seminars, academic sessions and conferences, as well as international piano competitions. It supervises research carried out by the staff and presents their artistic and academic achievements in the form of concerts, recordings, and publications.

The members of the Department of Piano are academic teachers from the group of research and teaching staff. Apart from teaching, they are involved in concert and research activities. They also serve as jurors of competitions in Poland and abroad, conduct workshops and masterclasses in many Polish and foreign music centers, actively participate in the international program Erasmus+, and work as consultants in music schools. They participate in the Department’s research project “Contemporary Interpretation of a Musical Work. Historical Context, Performance Traditions, Styles and Directions, Instrumentarium” headed by prof. dr hab. Anna Organiszczak, PhD, DSc, ProfTit.

Since 2016, the Pianists’ Academic Club has been operating within the Department of Piano.

 

The most significant projects carried out on regular basis by the Department of Piano:

• International Academic and Artistic Conference “Contemporary Interpretation of a Musical Work”
• National Artistic and Academic Sessions “Frederic Chopin’s Birthday”
• International Piano Competition “Halina Czerny-Stefańska in Memoriam”
• Concert cycles “Pianists at Paderewski’s”, “Mondays at the Academy”
• “Summer Concerts”.

 

Members of the Department of Piano:

Dr Jacek Kortus – Head
Prof. AMP dr hab. Joanna Marcinkowska
Prof. dr hab. Anna Organiszczak
Prof. dr hab. Piotr Szychowski
Prof. AMP dr hab. Maciej Pabich
Dr hab. Małgorzata Sajna-Mataczyńska
Dr Jaime Peñate Conde
Dr Przemysław Witek
Dr Piotr Żukowski
Dr Łukasz Byrdy
Mgr Michał Francuz

Prof. dr hab. Bogumił Nowicki – cooperation