Andrzej Jasiński

Pianist and pedagogue; born 23 October 1936 in Częstochowa.

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Andrzej Jasiński, photo: Przemysław Getka / Reporter

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Andrzej Jasiński, who had taken his first piano lessons from his father, was subsequently a student of Stefania Borkowska's in the National Secondary School of Music, from which he graduated in 1952. He then studied in the piano class of Władysława Markiewiczówna at the National Higher School of Music in Katowice in 1952-59, to graduate with honours. He further developed his skills under Magda Tagliaferro in Paris in 1960-61, and in 1960 won the 1st prize at the Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona.

Jasiński started concertizing while still a student. His foreign debut took place in 1961 with the RAI Orchestra under Carlo Zecchi in Turin. He has since played in concerts in all Polish philharmonic halls as well as in the Soviet Union, Czechoslovaka, Germany, France, Brazil, Uruguay and Japan. He has appeared at music festivals in the Polish towns of Słupsk, Duszniki, Warsaw and Wrocław, and has played two-piano concerts with Józef Stompel and orchestra. He has performed with the Wind Quintet of the National Symphony Orchestra of the Polish Radio, and has recorded for radio and television in Poland and abroad, doing, among others, several archival recordings with the Grand Orchestra of the Polish Radio and Television.

Since 1961 he has been teaching at the Katowice Academy of Music. He was appointed professor in 1990. In 1972-96 and 2003-2005 he ran the Academy's chair of piano. In 1979-82 he conducted the piano class at the Hochschule für Musik in Stuttgart. He has also lectured at the Mozarteum Summer Academy for Music in Salzburg and conducted piano courses at the Incontri col Maestro in Imola, Italy, as well as in France, Holland, Germany, Austria, Japan, the United States, South America (Uruguay, Brasil, Argentina), South Africa, and elsewhere. He has educated a number of concerting pianists - winners of prizes at domestic as well as foreign competitions, notably Krystian Zimerman (whose victory in the Chopin Competition in 1975 gained Jasiński international recognition), Jerzy Sterczyński, Wojciech Kocyan, Krzysztof Jabłoński, Joanna Domańska, Zbigniew Raubo, Regina Strokosz-Michalak, Rafał Łuszczewski, Magdalena Lisak, Beata Bilińska, Anna Górecka, and Robert Marat.

Jasiński has sat on the juries of international piano competitions in Warsaw (The Chopin Competition in 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2015 as a member, in 2000, 2005, and in 2010 as chairman), Bolzano (Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition), Brussels (Queen Elisabeth Competition), Budapest, Cagliari, Dublin, Fort Worth (Van Cliburn International Piano Competition), Leeds, Marrakesh, Munich, Monterrey, Moscow (International Tchaikovsky Competition), Miami, Paris, Beijing, Pretoria, Seoul, Terni, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, and Vercelli.

He has been honoured with many awards, including the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1975), the Medal of the Commission of National Education (2002), the Commander’s Cross of Polonia Restituta (2005), the Gloria Artis Golden Medal for Merit to Culture (2005), and the Annual Award of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (2019). Due to his links to Katowice and Silesia since the 1960s, he received numerous awards from local institutions and authorities (including the Award of the President of the City of Katowice, Walenty Roździeński Award, Silesian Juliusz Ligoń Prize, Karol Miarka Award, Lux ex Silesia Award). From 2005 to 2014, he was a member of the Programme Board of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute. He received three honorary doctorates: in 2006 from the Senate of the Katowice Academy of Music, in 2007 from the Senate of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, and in 2015 from the Lviv National Music Academy.

Originally written in Polish by Małgorzata Kosińska, Polish Music Information Center, October 2006; updated by MG, June 2019.

polish pianist

pedagogue

classical pianist