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"Where words leave off, music begins." - Heinrich Heine

Janusz Olejniczak

One of the most outstanding contemporary Chopin interpreters. Born in Wroclaw, he was the youngest prize-winner of the 8th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition (1970) and also won a prize in the Alfredo Casella International Competition in Naples.He has performed in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Australia, in the most famous concert halls, such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Salle Pleyel, Suntory Hall, Lincoln Center, Tonhalle in Düsseldorf and Concertgebouw. He has been a juror of piano competitions many times and given masterclasses abroad—in Europe, Canada, Japan and Columbia.Besides the core Classical repertoire, he also performs Polish contemporary music (incl. Lutoslawski, Górecki and Kilar). He has played with orchestra under the direction of Witold Rowicki, Andrzej Markowski, Kazimierz Kord, Antoni Wit, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Wojciech Michniewski, Tadeusz Strugala, Charles Dutoit, Andrzej Borejko, Grzegorz Nowak, Jacek Kaspszyk and others. For many years, he has also worked with Marek Mos and the Aukso Orchestra. He was one of the first performers of Chopin’s music on period instruments (Erard and Pleyel) and is a regular guest of the festival ‘Chopin and his Europe’ in Warsaw, including appearances alongside Martha Argerich and Maria João Pires. He has also appeared many times with Frans Brüggen’s Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées and Philippe Herreweghe.
He has made over forty recordings, including the soundtracks to Roman Polanski’s The Pianist and Andrzej Zulawski’s La note bleu. Among his many recordings for the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, particularly notable is the recently finished complete set of mazurkas on a period instrument. He has been decorated with the Officer’s Cross of the Rebirth of Poland (2000), the ‘Gloria Artis’ Gold Medal (2005) and ‘Fryderyk’ awards (eight times).
From October 2015, Janusz Olejniczak will be working with the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.