Jan Lisiecki piano

Hailed by critics worldwide for his mature and poetic playing, Jan Lisiecki made his orchestral debut at the age of 9 and has since given over 50 performances with orchestras worldwide, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Quebec Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Sinfonietta Cracovia, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra and Sinfonia Varsovia, to name a few. On January 1, 2010, Jan had the honor of opening the 200th birthday celebrations of Chopin at the composer's birthplace, Zelazowa Wola. That same month, he gave a dazzling performance of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor at the MIDEM Classical Awards Gala in Cannes, France. In April, Jan was asked to substitute for Nelson Freire in four concerts in France, and in May he opened the Seoul International Music Festival in South Korea. To celebrate Canada Day in July, he performed for Her Majesty the Queen of England in front of 100,000 people on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Jan has played at Carnegie Hall, the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Centre and Salle Cortot and has shared the stage with Yo-Yo Ma, Pinchas Zukerman, James Ehnes and Emanuel Ax. He has performed in the United States, Korea, China, Japan, France, Germany, England, Scotland, Italy, Guatemala, Germany, Poland and throughout Canada.

A dedicated performer of chamber music, Jan has collaborated with the New Zealand String Quartet, Quatour Ebene, and Penderecki String Quartet, appearing on festivals including the Merano Festival, Menton Festival, d'Auvers-sur-Oise Festival, Seoul Festival, Chopin and his Europe Festival and many others in Canada and USA.

Jan has been honored with many prestigious awards, including the "Debut Atlantic" and CBC Révélations Radio-Canada Musique in 2010, and has won numerous major Canadian music titles. In 2009, he was awarded the Grand Prize at the OSM Standard Life Competition (the youngest winner in the competition's history). In 2008, he won the Grand Award in both the Canadian Music Competition (June 2008) and the Canadian Music Festival (August 2008, as the youngest in its history). Jan was a prize-winner in seven international competitions in the United States, Italy, England, and Japan.

In 2008, Jan performed the Chopin F minor Concerto and was named the sensation of the prestigious festival "Chopin and His Europe" in Poland. In 2009, he returned to Warsaw performing the Chopin E minor Concerto, receiving glowing reviews and praise from critics. The concerts were broadcast by the Polish Radio. Jan's debut CD, featuring these two live performances with Sinfonia Varsovia and Howard Shelley, was released at the beginning of 2010 by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute as catalogue No. 1 on the new "White Series." The CD was awarded the prestigious Diapason d'Or Découverte award in May 2010. The Diapason describes Lisiecki as "an unmannered virtuoso already with virile and, above all, irresistibly natural playing." The BBC Music Magazine's July 2010 review commended "Lisiecki's mature musicality," and his "sensitively distilled" interpretation of the contrasting concerti, playing "with sparkling technique as well as idiomatic pathos," noting that "even in a crowded CD catalogue, this refreshingly unhyped CD release is one to celebrate."

Jan's performances have been broadcast on CBC Canada, BBC Radio, Polish Radio, French Radio, Luxembourg Radio, Austrian Radio, and German Radio, as well as on French Television 3 and on TV 1 and 2 in Poland. He was featured in the CBC "Next!" Series as one of the most promising young artists in Canada, and in the Joe Schlesinger 2009 CBC National News documentary "The Reluctant Prodigy."

Jan performs frequently for various charity organizations, including the David Foster Foundation, the Polish Humanitarian Organization and the Wish Upon a Star Foundation. In June 2008 he was appointed a National Youth Representative by UNICEF Canada. Upon the school board's recommendation, Jan was accelerated four grades and will be graduating in January 2011 from Western Canada High School in Calgary, Canada.

August 2010

View Upcoming Performances