Piano works by Bacewicz, Chopin and Liszt

Program

  • Grażyna Bacewicz (1909–1969) – Piano Sonata No. 2 (1953) (18’)
  • I. Allegro
  • II. Largo
  • III. Vivo
  • Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) – Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61 (1846) (13’)
  • Franz Liszt (1811–1886) – Années de pèlerinage, Deuxième année: Italie – "Sonetto 104 del Petrarca", S.161 No. 5 (1846/1858) (7’)

Mateusz Mikolajczak began music studies at the age of six with Joanna Samelczak. A native of Poland, Mateusz has been awarded top prizes in international competitions, including the Mieczysław Munz Juilliard Piano Competition, Franz Liszt International Piano Competition, Busan Maru International Music Festival Competition, and the Karol Lipiński International Piano Competition. He has performed at the National Forum of Music in Wrocław, the National Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw, and the Chopin Manor in Duszniki-Zdrój. He has performed extensively across Europe, the United States, and Asia. In November 2024, he made his debut at Carnegie Hall, followed by his Lincoln Center debut at Alice Tully Hall in February 2025. He has received scholarships from the Polish Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Santander Bank Polska, the Albeniz Foundation, and the Rafał Brzoska Foundation.

He has refined his artistry through masterclasses with pianists such as Lilya Zilberstein, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Nikolai Demidenko, Robert Levin, Rena Shereshevskaya, Mikhail Voskresensky, and Dmitri Bashkirov, and has appeared at international festivals including PianoFest in the Hamptons, the Duszniki International Chopin Piano Festival, and Piano City Madrid.

He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, studying under Professors Grzegorz Kurzynski and Helena Furmanowicz-Kurzyńska. He later pursued advanced training at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid with Milana Chernyavska, Claudio Martínez Mehner, Denis Lossev, and Marta Gulyás (chamber music). In May 2025, he completed his Master’s degree at The Juilliard School and will continue this fall in the highly selective Artist Diploma program, where he will continue working with Soyeon Kate Lee.

About the Dame Myra Hess Concerts

The concerts are generously sponsored by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council and by individual donors.

Upcoming Performances

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