Artists

About festival 2024 Program Photo gallery

Łukasz Byrdy

Zbigniew Raubo

Manfred Wagner-Artzt

Katarzyna Sobich

Maciej Domagała

Stefano Brizzi

Laureate of the F. Busoni Competition in Bolzano (1991) and the F. Liszt Competition in Utrecht (1992) – to date, he remains the only Polish laureate of this prestigious competition – as well as the K. Szymanowski Competition in Łódź (1987). He graduated with honors from the Academy of Music in Katowice, where he studied under Prof. Andrzej Jasiński, and later became his assistant. He currently holds the position of professor at his alma mater. In June 2013, the President of Poland awarded him the title of Professor of Musical Arts. He holds the title of Ambassador of the City of Kalisz and was awarded the Gold Cross of Merit in 2023. Prof. Raubo has performed in all the major philharmonics across Poland. He has worked with some of the country’s most distinguished conductors, including Jerzy Maksymiuk, Antoni Wit, Agnieszka Duczmal, Jerzy Salwarowski, Mirosław J. Błaszczyk, Marek Pijarowski, Tomasz Bugaj, Jerzy Swoboda, Krzysztof Missona, Łukasz Borowicz, Marek Moś, Czesław Grabowski, and Renard Czajkowski. His repertoire includes over 30 works for piano and orchestra. Among his notable artistic achievements are recitals at the Chopin Festival in Vancouver, the “Poolse Meesters” Festival in Belgium, piano workshops and a concert at the Campos do Jordao Festival in Brazil, and a recital and masterclass at the International Chopin Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój. Prof. Raubo has made numerous recordings for both domestic and international labels, including the Japanese branches of Deutsche Gramophon and RCA, International Music Corporation, and the DUX and Żuk Records labels. Prof. Raubo is also an avid chamber musician, having performed with the Silesian Quartet, Wilanów Quartet, Camerata Quartet, as well as Bartłomiej Nizioł, Urszula Kryger, Elżbieta Mrożek-Loska, and Piotr Janosik. In addition to his work at the Academy of Music in Katowice, Prof. Raubo is actively involved in teaching young pianists through numerous courses and consulting in music education at lower levels. He also teaches at masterclasses for pianists. His academic work includes serving as a supervisor for nine doctoral theses, as well as frequently acting as a reviewer in doctoral dissertations and professorial title procedures. Prof. Raubo has served on the juries of both national and international competitions, including the National F. Chopin Competition in Warsaw, the Chopin Competition in Asia (Japan), and the Yamaha Foundation Scholarship Competition. He was also a juror at the 11th International I.J. Paderewski Competition in Bydgoszcz and the 5th International Baltic Piano Competition in Gdańsk. His students include laureates of numerous music competitions, such as the Liszt Competition in Wrocław, the Liszt Competition in Parma, the International F. Chopin Competition for Children and Youth in Szafarnia, the National F. Chopin Competition in Warsaw, the Polish Piano Festival in Słupsk, and others. In recent years, his student, now assistant, Tymoteusz Bies, won the first edition of the International K. Szymanowski Competition in Katowice.

Łukasz Byrdy is one of the most distinctive pianists of the young generation – a laureate of over 20 international piano competitions, performing for more than a decade on the most important stages across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Born in Katowice, he has won top prizes at the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Beijing and the International Piano Competition in Hanover, and has also been awarded in Switzerland, Italy, Malta, and Poland. Following his participation in the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, his career gained momentum, and his interpretations were acclaimed by audiences from Paris to Beijing. In 2022, he was selected as one of the ten semifinalists of the prestigious Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary (Canada). He is also the recipient of numerous scholarships and artistic awards, including multiple distinctions from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the prestigious “Młoda Polska” (Young Poland) scholarship, one of the highest honors awarded to outstanding young Polish artists.

Byrdy regularly appears at international music festivals, including:
– Chopin and His Europe and the Paderewski International Festival in Warsaw,
– Chopin in the Colors of Autumn Festival in Ostrów Wielkopolski,
– Jerzy Waldorff Festival in Radziejowice,
– Christopher Festival in Vilnius,
– Chopin au Jardin and Chopin à Paris at the Orangery of Bagatelle Park in Paris,
– Aspen Music Festival and School (USA),
– The Polish-Russian Music Festival in Moscow.

He has performed in many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including: Harris Concert Hall (Aspen), Bella Concert Hall and Rozsa Centre (Calgary), Orangery of Bagatelle Park (Paris), Sapienza University Hall (Rome), Pushkin Museum and Scriabin Museum (Moscow), as well as concert halls of music conservatories in Beijing and Chengdu, and the Tianfu Center in Chengdu.

In Poland, he has performed with leading philharmonic orchestras and in renowned venues such as:
– NOSPR Concert Hall in Katowice,
– Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of Polish Radio in Warsaw,
– Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music in Lusławice,
– Mirror Hall of Pszczyna Castle,
– and numerous landmark venues in Warsaw, including the Holy Cross Church, Royal Castle,
Fryderyk Chopin Museum, Chopin’s Birthplace in Żelazowa Wola, Royal Theatre, Palace on
the Isle, and the City Hall Hall of the Palace of Culture and Science.

He graduated from the Universität der Künste in Berlin and the I. J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań, where he now serves as a professor in the Department of Piano. An active pedagogue, Byrdy regularly gives masterclasses both in Poland and abroad – including at the Mount Royal University in Calgary, University of Agder in Kristiansand, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn, and the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in Chengdu. He has also been invited on multiple occasions to teach at the prestigious Morningside Music Bridge program at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, working with some of the most talented young pianists from around the globe. He has made numerous radio and television recordings, and his performances have been broadcast by Polish Radio, Polish Television (TVP), Lithuanian National Radio and Television, China Central Television (CCTV), and regional stations in Sichuan. In 2017, with the support of the Piotr Kler Foundation, he released his debut album featuring piano concertos by Fryderyk Chopin and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The Viennese-born pianist, Manfred Wagner-Artzt was admitted at the age of 13 to the "Concert Performance" training class of Richard Hauser at the former Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. He later continued his studies with Alexander Jenner at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where, as Jenner's student, he earned his concert diploma in 1974. A few months later, he completed his chamber music training with a diploma and from then on presented himself to the public as a soloist, chamber musician, and accompanist. His international concert career began with a gold medal at the International Piano Competition in Vercelli, which has since taken him to some of the most prestigious concert halls in Europe (including Vienna's Great Musikverein Hall, Vienna's Great Konzerthaus Hall, Salzburg's Mozarteum, Berlin Philharmonie, Munich's Am Gasteig, WDR Broadcasting Hall in Cologne, Paris Salle Gaveau, London Saint John's Smith Square, Warsaw Philharmonic, De Doelen in Rotterdam, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, among others), as well as to the United States (including Washington National Gallery), Russia (including the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, St. Petersburg Hermitage, Pushkin Museum), Japan, China, Hong Kong, South America, and the Near and Middle East. His artistic endeavors are documented in numerous recordings for international radio and television stations, as well as on records and CDs (EMI, GRAMOLA, MDG, DIVERTIMENTO, etc.). A significant focus of his concert activity has been his extensive chamber music collaborations with many internationally renowned instrumentalists, such as members of the Alban Berg Quartet, the Vienna String Sextet, the Vienna Philharmonic, as well as Heinrich Schiff, Christian Altenburger, Gerald Schubert, Ernst Kovacic, Ludwig Streicher, Roland Pidoux, and others. He also performs as a piano duo with his wife, Susanna Artzt. From 1975 to 2010, he was a member of "exxj" (Ensemble 20th Century), engaging with the latest developments in contemporary music. He has given masterclasses and lecture-recitals at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and in the USA, as well as masterclasses both domestically and internationally, and has served as a lecturer at the European Academy in Montepulciano. In October 1975, he began teaching at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where he became a full professor in 1999 and retired in October 2021.

Maciej Domagała, born in 2008 in Kutno, is a student at the Stanisław Moniuszko Music School in Gąbin, where he studies piano with Dr. hab. Jarosław Domagała. In 2024, he received a scholarship from the National Institute of Music and Dance in Warsaw and the Podkarpacka Foundation for Cultural Development. Maciej is a laureate of numerous international piano competitions, including the Polish and Ukrainian Music Competition in Kharkiv (2019), the International Chopin Piano Competition in Vienna (2021), the 22nd International J. Zarębski Competition in Łomianki-Warsaw (2022), the International Chopin Piano Competition in Turzno (2023), the 9th International Online Piano Competition in Trzciana (2023), the International Henryk Melcer Piano Competition in Kalisz (2023), the International Music Competition in Krakow (2023), the 2nd International Online Music Competition “Music is life” Krakow-Vienna (2023), the Concurs Internacional De Piano On-Line Chopin Sessions in Felanitx (2023), the International Online Piano Competition “Musical Phenomena” (2023), and the London International Chopin Competition (2024). Maciej has performed in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine, and Poland, in venues such as the National Philharmonic, the Grand Theatre in Warsaw, the Władysław Szpilman Polish Radio Studio in Warsaw, Calisia One, the Music Salon at the F. Nowowiejski Museum in Poznań, the Fryderyk Chopin European Centre in Sanniki, the Herbst Palace Museum in Łódź, the Stefan Stuligrosz Concert Hall at the Academy of Music in Poznań, Ujazdowski Park in Warsaw, the Birthplace of Fryderyk Chopin in Żelazowa Wola, the Romantic Palace in Turzno, and the Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music in Lusławice. He participated in the 19th International Piano Forum “Bieszczady Without Borders” in Sanok in 2024, where he performed with the Lviv Chamber Orchestra “Akademia”. He also took part in the Piano Workshops in Krynica-Zdrój (2019), the “Master and Students” Course at the Palace in Rybna and “Play with the Master” in Gniezno, where he studied under the guidance of professors such as Elżbieta Tarnawska, Joanna Ławrynowicz-Just, Beata Bilińska, Piotr Paleczny, and Andrzej Tatarski. He also participated in the educational series “Chopinoteka: Listening Workshops” at the Birthplace of Fryderyk Chopin in Żelazowa Wola. Maciej took part in the Chopin en Vacances Festival in 2023 and 2024, the 10th International I. J. Paderewski Festival and the 26th International Piano Festival “Musical Floralia – Music in Flowers” (2022). He is a laureate of the 2nd (2022) and 3rd (2023) editions of the Polish Radio Chopin Alternative Competition in the Polonaise and Ballad categories. In 2019, Maciej was awarded the title of Personality of the Year by the editorial team of "Polska Times" in the Culture category, and in 2020, he received an Artistic Scholarship from the Marshal of the Łódź Voivodeship.

Stefano Brizzi is a young pianist born in Fondi (Italy) in 2007 who began studying piano at the age of 7. His musical journey, initially accompanied only by Maestro Luigi Carroccia, continued with participation in the advanced piano courses at the International Academy of Music and Art AIMART in Rome, under the guidance of Maestro Giorgia Alessandra Brustia. Stefano has performed in a lot of important music events, such as the Fondi Music Festival, Settimane Musicali Internazionali, the International Courses of musical interpretation – Umbria Classica Association, the EuroArts Music Festival & Academy in Szczecin (Poland), and the recitals organized by the Hungarian Academy in Rome. Furthermore, since 2018 Stefano stood out in various international piano competitions, achieving numerous awards including the first prizes and first absolute prizes obtained in Rome, Bologna, Baronissi, Minerbio and Spoleto. In 2022 he got the 1st prize in the selection phase of the Steinway Piano Competition for young talents, which earned him the participation in the Italian final in Verona where he won the "Iancu Tucarman" special prize. 2023 turns out to be an even more successful year, in fact Stefano is the absolute winner of Henryk Melcer Piano Competition (Poland) and a first prize winner of Orbetello International Piano competition - junior. Despite his young age, the pianist has already achieved success in several concert halls performing in Italy, Austria, Poland and Romania. A special mention deserves the collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in Bucharest thanks to which Stefano performed at the “George Enescu” Philharmonic, attracting the attention of prestigious critics as Dumitru Avakian, who dedicated to him reviews and articles of appreciation in specialized magazines such as Adevarul and re-proposing his performance on the Romanian national television.