He was born on 24 June 2002 in Warsaw into a family of professional musicians – a background which, as he admits, proved a great help in maintaining regular practice once he had decided to pursue piano studies. Taking up the piano felt like a natural choice: at home, music was a near-permanent presence, and his mother, a music teacher, would often sit at the piano with her children, singing songs she had composed herself.
Widlarz began his musical education at the Karol Szymanowski Group of State Music Schools No. 4 in Warsaw, studying under Professor Irina Rumiancewa-Dąbrowski. He later moved on to the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, where he is currently a piano student of Professor Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń and Doctor habilitatus Paweł Wakarecy. In an interview with the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, he described the piano as follows:
‘Compared to other instruments, I think the most beautiful aspect of the piano is that it allows us to play the greatest number of musical layers. Solo piano works are often so complex that, in a sense, they can be enough in themselves [...]. Personally, I love piano literature the most. Take Chopin, for example. No other instrument allows for a deeper immersion into the world of his music, and the same applies to many other composers’.
Widlarz has won many national and international competitions, including: the International Piano Competition in Rome (2016 – 2nd prize); the ‘Master of the Keyboard’ Competition in Warsaw (2017 – 3rd prize); the M. Moszkowski International Competition in Kielce (2017 – 3rd prize); the International Piano Competition in Augustów (2018 – 3rd prize); the K. and A. Szafranek National Forum of Young Instrumentalists in Rybnik (2018 – 1st prize); the J. Brahms International Chamber Music Competition in Gdańsk (2025 – 3rd prize); and an honorary medal at the 69th Maria Canals International Music Competition in Barcelona (2024).
He was also a finalist in the 2022 National Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, and in 2025, he was one of 13 Polish pianists to qualify for the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition. Despite his participation in many contests, he describes this one as especially significant, with an atmosphere that is as thrilling as it is demanding:
‘I think it’s hard to be a pianist in Poland and not, at some point, think about trying your luck in the Chopin Competition. [...] Watching the Competition, it always seemed to me that the Poles have it the hardest. Understandably so – many of their friends, family acquaintances, teachers – they all know it is happening, they all follow it, and I think this sentiment is particularly strong here. There is definitely more pressure,’
he admitted in the interview with the Fryderyk Chopin Institute.
As a soloist, Widlarz has performed with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Świętokrzyska Philharmonic Orchestra. He has given concerts in Japan, China, and in many cities across Poland, including at the Birthplace of Fryderyk Chopin in Żelazowa Wola, the Fryderyk Chopin Museum in Warsaw, and NOSPR in Katowice. He has received scholarships from the Minister of Culture and Art and the Yamaha Music Europe Foundation.
