Piotr Sałajczyk

Piotr Sałajczyk is a pianist, born on 7th January 1982 in Warsaw. He has recorded for the DUX, CD Accord, Naxos, and Haenssler labels, as well as for Polish Radio 2, Belgian radio station Musiq3, Deutschlandradio, and HR2. His achievements include many world premieres of contemporary music.

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Piotr Sałajczyk, fot. © POLITYKA / Leszek Zych

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Piotr Sałajczyk, photo: © POLITYKA / Leszek Zych

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Sałajczyk graduated with honours from Józef Stompel’s class at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. He complemented his academic training in Pavel Gililov’s class at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and perfected his musical skills at master classes conducted by Aleksey Maximov, Wiesław Szlachta, Christopher Wyneken, and Krystian Zimerman. He is an assistant professor at the Academy of Music in Katowice.

His debut album with last sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert (DUX) was awarded with the title of ‘Maestro’ by French monthly Pianiste. In 2017, Sałajczyk’s album Juliusz Zarębski: Complete Works in Opus Order was released by DUX. It is the first-ever recording of piano compositions by Juliusz Zarębski, an unduly forgotten Polish composer of the Romantic period who was the favourite apprentice of Ferenc Liszt. The release consists of four CDs, three of which contain solo pieces, while the fourth features pieces for four hands for which Sałajczyk is accompanied by Maria Szwajgier-Kułakowska.

Piotr Sałajczyk’s recordings were recognised and awarded in Poland and abroad, gaining him such awards as the Pizzicato Supersonic from Luxembourg’s Pizzicato magazine, 5 de Diapason Awards, four nominations for Fryderyk Awards, Opera Nederland magazine’s title of album of the month, and the silver Global Music Award medal.

Concerts

As a chamber musician he has collaborated with many outstanding artists, such as Urszula Kryger, Piotr Pławner, the Silesian Quartet, and the Apollon Musagète Quartet.

As a soloist Sałajczyk has performed with many orchestras, including Polish Radio Symphonic Orchestra, Silesian Philharmonic, Sinfonia Iuventus, Sinfonietta Cracovia, National Philharmonic, Polish Radio Orchestra. He collaborates with AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy and New Music Orchestra. He was a member of the Lasoń Ensemble piano quintet, performing under the patronage of the city of Mikołów. He is a pianist of Sommerakademie Salzburg and a member of the Wajnberg Trio.

He has taken part in many festivals in Poland (Warsaw Autumn, Paweł Szymański Music Festival and Chopiniana in Warsaw, Ars Cameralis in Katowice, Andrzej Markowski International Festival Wratislavia Cantans, Musica Polonica Nova, Chantarelle Festival, Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki International Festival, International Festival of Kraków Composers, International Chamber Music Festival Silesian String Quartet and Guests, Sacrum Profanum, Festival of World Premieres organised by Polish Radio Symphonic Orchestra, Polish Piano Festival in Słupsk) and abroad (Velvet Curtain and Virtuosos International Festival of Music Art in Lviv, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad and Musique et Neige in Switzerland, Beijing Modern Music Festival, Intersonanzen in Potsdam, Unerhoerte Musik in Berlin, Anatoly Kos-Anatolsky Festival in Kolomyia, Usedomer Musikfestival, and Spring Festival in Budapest).

Decorations and awards

Piotr Sałajczyk has won, amongst others, first prize at the 8th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition for Children and Youth in Szafarnia (1999), the award for best accompanying pianist at the 5th Competition of 20th and 21st Music in Radziejowice and Warsaw (2002), and third prize at the Contessa Tina Orsi Anguissola Scotti International Chamber Music Competition in Pianello Val Tidone (2010).

In 2017, Sałajczyk was nominated for Polityka magazine’s Passport award. In 2018, he won the Fryderyk Award for Best Album in the Chamber Music category for Mieczysław Wajnberg: String Quartet No. 7 & Piano Quintet, recorded with Silesian Quartet, as well as Orpheus Award granted by the General Board of the Association of Polish Musician Artists.

Discography:

Piotr Sałajczyk – Beethoven, Schubert: The Last Piano Sonatas (DUX, 2011)
Piotr Sałajczyk, Kwartet Śląski, Grupa Cellonet – Aleksander Nowak: String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2, Little Commentary for the 25th Anniversary of Pro Novum / 3 Peaceful Street (3x4+8) (CD Accords, 2012)
Piotr Sałajczyk, Dagmara Świtacz – Karol Szymanowski: Pieśni (Songs, trans. MG) (DUX, 2012)
Piotr Sałajczyk, Kwartet Śląski – Szymon Laks: Muzyka kameralna (Chamber Music, trans. MG) (Fundacja Musica Pro Bono, 2012)
Piotr Sałajczyk, Kwartet Śląski – Krzysztof Meyer: Piano Quartet. Piano Quintet (Naxos, 2015)
Piotr Sałajczyk, Kwartet Śląski – Mieczysław Wajnberg: String Quartet No. 7 + Piano Quintet (CD Accord, 2017)
Piotr Sałajczyk, Maria Szwajgier-Kułakowska – Juliusz Zarębski: Complete Works in Opus Order (DUX, 2017)

Artist’s website: www.salajczyk.com

Update: MG, September 2019.

pianist

contemporary music

classical music