Andrzej Czajkowski

Andre Czajkowski (1 Nov 1935-26 June 1982) studied piano with Emma Altberg, Stanisław Szpinalski, Lazare Levy and Stefan Askenase, and composition with Kazimierz Sikorski, Hans Keller and Nadia Boulanger. In 1955 he was admired as the youngest laureate of the Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition and a year later won the third prize at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels. Artur Rubinstein, one of the judges, wrote of him that he was one of the best pianists of his generation, and even more than that a wonderful musician. He was in great demand throughout his short life as a solo concert pianist and also played with the world's great orchestras and conductors, performing with them extensively throughout Europe, North and South America, Asia and Australia. Tchaikowsky lived most of his adult life and died in England where he is remembered as an exceptionally gifted pianist and an artistic personality of wit and erudition. Composition was his true vocation, so in his later years Tchaikowsky limited his concert activity to concentrate on writing music. His most important works include: the Shakespearian opera The Merchant of Venice, which premiered in 2013, two piano concertos, two string quartets, Seven Shakespeare Sonnets, a sonata for clarinet and piano, Inventions for Piano and Trio Notturno.