Performers

HALINA CZERNY-STEFAŃSKA

She was first taught the piano by her father. In 1932 she studied with Alfred Cortot in Paris, later until 1939 with Józef Turczyński at Warsaw Conservatory. Having settled in Kraków during World War II, she continued her studies with Zbigniew Drzewiecki at that city’s State Higher School of Music in 1945–1949.
Winning (jointly with Bella Davidovich) the 1st  prize in the 4th  International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (where she also received the Polish Radio award for the best performance of mazurkas) launched Halina’s worldwide career. She frequently toured with, among others, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Great Symphony Orchestra of Polish Radio in Katowice, and New York Philharmonic, in China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, and the United States, as well as playing a recital at the United Nations headquarters.
An outstanding Chopin interpreter, Czerny-Stefańska recorded extensively for Polskie Nagrania, DG, Supraphon, Telefunken, His Master’s Voice, Erato, RCA, and Pony Canyon. She served on the juries of piano competitions in Prague, Bratislava, Budapest, Paris, Leipzig, Leeds, Bolzano, Cologne, Tel Aviv, and many others, including five editions of the Chopin Competition in Warsaw and the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
The artist taught master classes worldwide. She lectured at Poznań’s Academy of Music (1978–1981), the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, and other Japanese universities. Her accolades include the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.



phot. Wojciech Plewiński
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