Piotr KOWAL. Pianist, chamber musician, pedagogue. Graduate of the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków in the piano class of Professor Andrzej Pikul (diploma with distinction). In 2018 he was awarded his doctoral degree / doctorate; his dissertation interpreted the works of Ludwig van Beethoven and included a recording of the sonatas op. 81a, Op. 106, Hammerklavier and Op. 111.

In 2014, the pianist developed his skills at the Musikhochschule in Lübeck as a student of Prof. Konstanze Eickhorst, and in 2021, as part of his postgraduate studies, as the student of Prof. Aquiles Delle Vigne. He has participated in numerous masterclasses given by distinguished pedagogues including Paul Badura-Skoda, Dmitry Bashkirov, Dina Joffe, Anna Malikova, Emanuel Krasovsky and Evgeni Koroliov.

He is a laureate and finalist of international piano competitions, such as the Tadeusz Żmudziński Competition in Kraków, the Concerto Competition of the International Master Classes in Tel Hai, Israel (Jan Jacob Bistritzky Prize), the Sardoal Young Talent Award in Portugal, the “Gloria Artis Competition” in Vienna, the 4th Singapore International Classical Piano Competition, the Hans von Bülow International Competition in Meiningen or the International Piano Competition “Performance without Limit” in Łódź.

 He has given concerts as a soloist and chamber musician in Poland as well as in Austria, Denmark, Spain, Israel, Germany, Slovakia, the United States and Italy. He has performed at such international festivals as: “Wawel at Dusk”, ” Sierpień Talentów” in Katowice, the International Royal Krakow Piano Festival, the Festival of Polish Music in Iwonicz-Zdrój, the Liszt Festival in Krakow. He has played as well as at the Wroclaw Philharmonic, the Krakow Philharmonic, the Czestochowa Philharmonic and the Fryderyk Chopin Museum in Warsaw. He has also collaborated with the Częstochowa Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and the Riszon le-Cijjon Symphony Orchestra, performing Franz Liszt’s Concerto in E flat major. 

In 2016, he was hired at the Piano Department of the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, where he currently leads his class as an assistant professor. Since 2015, he has also been working as a pedagogue and head of the Piano Department at the Bronisław Rutkowski Primary and Secondary Music School in Kraków.

He teaches a piano class as part of the International Courses of Music Interpretation in Nowy Sącz. His pupils and students win prizes in national and international piano competitions.

In 2022, he received a Creative Scholarship from the Minister of Culture. His album Bruzdowicz: Works for Piano and Cello, published by the DUX label, was awarded at the III International Competition „Muzyczne Orły”. In 2023 he premiered his new CD “Aurora”, dedicated to the music of Polish composer – Jerzy Gablenz.