Kraków-born Julia Kociuban started her piano education at the age of 5. A student of Olga Łazarska and graduate of the Fryderic Chopin University of Music, she is now continuing her musical training in the Universitat Mozarteum in Salzburg, guided by outstanding piano professor Pavel Gililov.
Kociuban has given concerts all around Europe (Herkulessaal in Munich, Konzerthaus in Berlin), North America, and Asia; she has been invited to the world’s most important music festivals, including Festival de la Roque d'Anthéron, Young Euro Classic Festival in Berlin, and International Piano Chopin Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój. In March 2015, DUX recording studio released her first album Schumann, Chopin, Bacewicz.
''Julia Kociuban is a very talented pianist. We have been supporting her for many years and we believe that she will be one of the great Polish pianists in the upcoming Chopin Piano Competition."
– says Elżbieta Penderecka, Kociuban’s representative and the President of the Ludwig van Beethoven Association.
However, Kociuban did not make it to the final part of the Chopin Piano Competition. Dariusz Marciszyn commented on her performance in Ruch Muzyczny:
''Finally, I would like to mention three competitors that did not make it to the final: Julia Kociuban, whom I considered to be the Polish favorite, Natalia Milstein and Viktor Yuandong Mattsson. They all presented different interpretations in which technical skills were not the most important part of their performances. The ability to listen to oneself was something I noticed in all three of them, and it is a quality more important than technical prowess. '.
Musical auditions for the semi-finals of the International Tchaikovsky Competition were held in the Moscow Conservatory from 16 to 20 June. The Polish pianist is among the 12 competitors qualified for the semi-final: Sergiej Redkin, Maria Mazo, Reed Tetzloff, Ilja Rashkovsky, George Li, Lucas Debargue, Lukas Geniušas, Daniel Kharitonov, Michaił Turpanov, Nikołaj Medvedev, and Dmitrij Masleev. The third part of the competition is to be held 28-30 June 2015.
The International Tchaikovsky Competition is one of the world’s most important and prestigious music competitions. Held every four years in Moscow and St. Petersburg, it has been organized since 1958. Initially, the competition gathered the musicians of only two instruments: piano and violin. In 1962, the cello category was added, in 1966 – solo vocal. In 1990, another category was added – a contest for violin, viola and cello makers.
Sources: press release, Ruch Muzyczny, natemat.pl, http://tchaikovskycompetition.com/
Translated by Paweł Trzaskowski, 22 June 2015