Twenty years after winning first prize at the 15th Warsaw Chopin Competition, including all special prizes, pianist Rafał Blechacz has long since established himself as a fixture on the international concert scene. Acclaimed by audiences in Europe, Asia and the USA, the press praises his profound and virtuoso interpretations. He is also the winner of the 2014 Gilmore Artist Award, one of the most prestigious music prizes for pianists worldwide.
Rafał Blechacz regularly performs with renowned orchestras such as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He has given solo recitals in famous concert halls such as the Philharmonie Berlin, Herkulessaal Munich, Liederhalle Stuttgart, Salle Pleyel Paris, Royal Festival Hall and Wigmore Hall London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Teatro alla Scala Milan, Tonhalle Zurich, Suntory Hall Tokyo and David Geffen Hall New York.
He is an exclusive artist with Deutsche Grammophon and his recordings have won numerous awards. His debut recording of Chopin's Préludes was honored with the ECHO Klassik and the Diapason d'or, his recording of Chopin's piano concertos with Jerzy Semkow and the Concertgebouworkest received the Critics' Award Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, and his recording of works by Debussy and Szymanowski received an ECHO Klassik, among other awards. Further albums featuring Chopin's Polonaises and works by Bach, as well as his duo album with violinist Bomsori, have delighted listeners and the press alike in recent years. In March 2023, his latest recording was released, which he has once again dedicated to Frédéric Chopin, the composer who has influenced his career like no other.
Rafał Blechacz was born in 1985. He began piano lessons at the age of five and continued his studies at the Artur Rubinstein State School of Music in Bydgoszcz. In 2007, he graduated from the Feliks Nowowiejski Music Academy in Bydgoszcz under Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń. In 2016, Rafał Blechacz received his doctorate in music philosophy.