The Halina Czerny-Stefańska in memoriam International Piano Competition was inaugurated in 2008, following rich musical traditions of Poznań and Greater Poland. The I. J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznan is the initiator and organizer of the Competition.

 

Patroness of the Competition. Halina Czerny-Stefańska gave concerts worldwide and is recognized as an icon of Polish Chopin studies. Also, she was a professor at several Japanese universities, and held an honorary doctorate from the University of Tokyo. The Academy of Music in Poznań, where she taught piano for several years, was the only Polish university the artist collaborated with.

The previous editions of the Competition, held in 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2017, were very popular among young pianists from all over the world.

 

The winners of the Competition in the five consecutive editions were:

– in 2008:

Grand Prix – Olga Steżko,

1st place – Przemysław Witek,

2nd place – Radosław Sobczak,

3rd place – Jaekyung Yoo,

 

– in 2011:

1st place – Denis Żdanow,

2nd place – Kotaro Nagano,

3rd place – Christopher Falzone,

 

– in 2014:

1st place – Szymon Nehring,

2nd place – Eka Bokuchava

3rd place – Andrzej Wierciński

 

– in 2017:

1st place – Krzysztof Książek,

2nd place – Jan Kostina,

3rd place – Michał Dziewior