History of the Competition

The International Piano Competition ‘Halina Czerny-Stefańska in memoriam’ was inaugurated in 2008, following rich musical traditions of Poznań including such events as the International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition held every five years.

The Competition is organised by the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań
and the chosen patroness, Halina Czerny -Stefańska, who was a noted Polish pianist, lectured at the Academy between 1977 and 1982. The fifth anniversary edition will be held on the 100th anniversary of the pianist’s birth year.

The first edition, then named 1st European Piano Competition Halina Czerny-Stefańska in memoriam was held in September 2008. The competition was founded on the initiative of Prof. Alicja Kledzik, the then Head of the Piano, Organ and Harpsichord Department and Prof. Bogumił Nowicki, the then Rector of the Academy and Halina Czerny-Stefańska’s assistant from 1979 to 1982. Each following edition was held every three years and had international reach. Prof. Alicja Kledzik was the Director of the Competition from 2011 to 2017.

Prizewinners

1st European Piano Competition Halina Czerny-Stefańska in memoriam, 2008

Grand Prix –               Olga Stezhko (Belarus)
First Prize –                Przemysław Witek (Poland)
Second Prize –           Radosław Sobczak (Poland)
Third Prize (jointly) –  Jaekyung Yoo (South Korea) and Pavel Kolesnikov (Russia)
Fourth Prize –             Rinaldo Zhok (Italy)
Fifth Prize –                Anna Solovieva (Russia)
Sixth Prize –               Helene Tysman (France)

2nd International Piano Competition ‘Halina Czerny-Stefańska in memoriam’, 2011

First Prize –              Denis Zhdanov (Ukraine)
Second Prize –         Kotaro Nagano (Japan)
Third Prize –             Christopher Falzone (USA)

3rd International Piano Competition ‘Halina Czerny-Stefańska in memoriam’, 2014

First Prize –             Szymon Nehring (Poland)
Second Prize –        Eka Bokuhava (Georgia)
Third Prize –            Andrzej Wierciński (Poland)

Distinction:               Łukasz Byrdy (Poland)

                                 Kaori Kashimoto (Japan)

                                 Suzuko Sakakibara (Japan)

4th International Piano Competition ‘Halina Czerny-Stefańska in memoriam’, 2017

First Prize –              Krzysztof Książek (Poland)
Second Prize –         Jana Kostina (Russia)
Third Prize –             Michał Dziewior (Poland)

Distinction:                Aleksandra Świgut (Poland)

                                  Theo Ranganathan (France)

                                  Maciej Wota (Poland)

                                  Dong-Wan Ha (South Korea.)

                                  Robert Maciejowski (Poland)