Janusz Grzelązka

Polish pianist Janusz Grzelązka, winner of the grand prix at the Torneo di Musica in Rome with the Trio Dell´Arte in 1995, received diplomas of distinction at the Queen Elisabeth’s International Music Competition in Brussels in 1978 and in Senigallia, Italy in 1979; and was the laureate of the 15th Polish pianistic Festival in Słupsk. He studied at the Warsaw Academy of Music with Regina Smendzianka, and graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Victor Merzhanov in 1980

After graduation his highly acclaimed performances with symphonic orchestras in Poland and Finland led to hundreds of solo and chamber recitals at music festivals in France (Bordeaux, Montélimar, Mend), Finland (Turku, Seinajoki, Kokkola), Canada (Niagara on the Lake), and Poland (Duszniki, Antonin, Lublin, Słupsk, Gdańsk, Warsaw, Łódz, Poznań, Tarnów, and Łańcut). He has also made recordings for the Radio and TV in Poland, France, West Germany, and Finland.

Performing with Victor Pikayzen, Oleh Krysa, John Storgards, Jyrki Nisskanen, Taru Valjakka, Anna Maria Helsing, Christofer Sundquist, Delfina Ambroziak, Teresa May-Czyżowska, Andrzej Bauer ,Vadim Brodsky, Maria Tchaikovskaya, Marina Yashvili, and others, brought Grzelązka a fame as an excellent collaborator which he exhibited at the many prestigious international competitions including: Tchaikovsky in Moscow (’82, ’86), Rostropovich in Paris (’86), Wieniawski (’88), Bayerishe Rundfunk in München (’88), Scheveningen in Holland (’89), and Bach in Leipzig (’90). 

Grzelązka spent part of his later career teaching in Finland and most recently recorded in the US with his son, Ignacy, a CD of unpublished music by Lukas Foss, as well as cello and piano music by Schumann and Schubert. He is known for the unique  interpretations of Chopin and Rachmaninov among his vast repertoire which includes works from Bach to contemporary premiers. His interests include composition and arrangements as well as improvisation.