Many outstanding pianists were associated with the music academy in Poznań. 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 for nearly 30 years  affiliated with the Poznań Academy, while Halina Czerny-Stefańska (1977-1981), an outstanding pianist and winner of 1st Prize at the 4th International Chopin Competition, collaborated with the Academy for several years. In 1958 the State Higher School of Music in Poznan established the Chair 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), and Prof. Alicja Kledzik (2005-2016). Since 2016, the head of the Chair is Prof. Anna Organiszczak.

The Chair of Piano is one of the chairs operating within the Institute of Instrumental Music of the I. J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań. The statutory task of the Chair is to organize and carry out artistic, research and scientific work as well as to supervise teaching in the field of piano in order to ensure the highest quality of teaching to students. At the invitation of the Chair, 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 Chair is involved in artistic and scientific research activities; it is the organizer of numerous concerts attended by students and teachers, master classes and seminars, scientific sessions and conferences, as well as international piano competitions. It supervises research carried out by the staff and presents their artistic and scientific achievements in the form of concerts, recordings, and publications.

The members of the Chair of Piano are academic teachers from the group of research and didactic staff. Apart from teaching, they are involved in concert and research activities. They are 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 are consultants in music schools. They participate in the Chair’s research project “Contemporary Interpretation of a Musical Work. Historical Context, Performance Traditions, Styles and Directions, Instrumentarium” headed by Anna Organiszczak, PhD, DSc, ProfTit.

Since 2016 the Piano Scientific Club has been operating at the Chair of Piano.

 

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

• International Scientific and Artistic Conference “Contemporary Interpretation of a Musical Work”,
• National Artistic and Scientific 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 Chair of Piano:

Anna Organiszczak, PhD, DSc, ProfTit  – head

Alicja Kledzik, PhD, DSc, ProfTit

prof. Joanna Marcinkowska, PhD, DSc

prof. Maciej Pabich, PhD, DSc

Piotr Szychowski, PhD, DSc

Małgorzata Sajna-Mataczyńska, PhD, DSc

Przemysław Witek, PhD

Piotr Żukowski, PhD

Jacek Kortus, MA

Łukasz Byrdy, MA

Cyprian Sekrecki, MA

Bogumił Nowicki, PhD, DSc, ProfTit   – collaborator