Rafal Blechacz
Biography Rafal Blechacz
Rafal Blechacz
was born in Nakło nad Notecią, Poland, on 30 June 1985. At the age of five he began to learn the piano at a local music centre and three years later enrolled at Bydgoszcz’s Artur Rubinstein Music School. Between 1996 and 1999 he won the top awards at a number of Polish national piano competitions. In 2005 he was awarded first prize at the 15th Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw, and three special prizes: the Polish Radio Award for “Best Performance of the Mazurkas”, the Polish Chopin Society Award for “Best Polonaise Performance”, and the Warsaw Philharmonic Award for “Best Concerto Performance”. Additionally, he won the prize founded by Krystian Zimerman for “Best Sonata Performance”. Rafal recorded his first CD for Deutsche Grammophon in 2007 and since then has continued to rise in popularity, dazzling live audiences throughout the world.
