Biography

Lukasz Kwiatkowski - Polish pianist, piano pedagogue, chamber musician, associate profesor at the Academy of Music in Lodz, doctor of musical arts (Ph.D) with „habilitation”, DA Hab.

He began his piano education under Barbara Ligeza and continued under prof. Anna Wesolowska-Firlej. He graduated with distinction from primary and secondary music school in Lodz. In 2005 he graduated from the Academy of Music in Lodz with distinction in the class of piano under prof. Anna Wesolowska-Firlej obtaining the degree of Master of Arts. In the years 2003-2004 he studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff in the class of piano under dr Michael Schreider. In 2013 he obtained the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts (Ph.D). In 2018 he obtained habilitation. Currently he is associate professor at the Department of Piano at the Academy of Music in Lodz. Since September 2020, he has been the head of the Institute of Piano, Organ, Sacred Music, Harpsichord, and Early Instruments at the Music University in Lodz.

He obtained many Polish scholarships awarded by the Minister of Arts and Culture (2003-2004), the Academic Scholarship for Outstanding Young Academicians (2012), and the Prize of Polish Academy of Sciences (2014). In 2020 he received a scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for the implementation of the project ‘Romantycy znani i nieznani – Fryderyk Chopin i Florian Stanisław Miładowski’ [Romantics. Known and Unknown – Fryderyk Chopin and Florian Stanisław Miładowski] whose aim is to popularize the works of two Polish composers of the Romantic era – the outstanding Fryderyk Chopin and the forgotten Florian Stanisław Miładowski. The recording of Miładowski’s works is their world phonographic premiere.

In 2014 his first CD solo album "Bach Busoni", edited by DUX in Warsaw, was released. Stephen Barber in the Classical Music Reviews (Musicweb-international) wrote: „we should be grateful to Kwiatkowski who plays it with admirable clarity, laying out the complicated structure and not getting fazed in the thorniest passages (...) Kwiatkowski’s recording quality is outstanding: the piano is slightly more forward than in most piano recordings but is superbly resonant and the bass is excellent...". Benoît Desouches (Clic Musique) said: „Its simple, respectful and refined interpretation, served by a clear sound recording, renders the richness of the counterpoint with power and clarity.”

His next CD solo album with the piano works of Leopold Godowski released in 2018 (also edited by DUX in Warsaw), was appreciated by prestigious music magazines including Pizzicato and Fanfare. „… Powerful and dynamic, exciting and captivating, these Godowski pieces are performed by the Polish pianist Lukasz Kwiatkowski…Kwiatkowski makes it a pleasure for the listener to take an entertaining and technically virtuoso journey...” (Alain Steffen, Pizzicato). In 2022 his 2 CDs solo album was released with the works of Frederic Chopin and Stanisław Florian Miładowski. Franck Remy (Pizzicato) wrote: "Kwiatkowski’ tense playing and his wide dynamic range give the music a very great, very lively subtlety despite all its intensity". Kwiatkowski is also author of the books: "Johann Sebastian Bach's Music in the Piano Works of Ferruccio Busoni" (2013) and "Leopold Godowski and his contribution to the development of pianism at the turn of XIX and XX century" (2018) published by Polihymnia, Lublin.

He is prizewinner of 20 various international and national music competitions in piano and chamber music, and winner of a range of awards, including among others: II Prize at the International Piano Chopin Competition in Szafarnia, II Prize and Special Prize at the International Piano Competition in Kosice (Slovakia), II Prize at the XIV International Chamber Music Competition in Lodz (2001), quintet category, "Grindea Award for the Best Promising Musician" in London (2001), IV Prize at the Piano International Music Competition in London (2003), I Prize and a Special Prize, piano trio category, at K. Bacewicz International Chamber Music Competition in Lodz (2004), I Prize at the Concerto Trials Finals in Cardiff (2004). As member of the "Duo Subito" with the violinist Ludwika Maja Tomaszewska-Klimek he won awards including: II Prize at TIM International Chamber Music Competition in Verona, Italy (2008), Special Prize of the Perrenoud Foundation at the 17th International Music Competition in Vienna (2009).

Lukasz Kwiatkowski gives many concerts as soloist and chamber musician (over 150 concerts), including appearances at the Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic in Lodz, Feliks Nowowiejski Philharmonic in Olsztyn, Philharmonic Hall in Szczecin, Zelazowa Wola, Chopin Centre in Szafarnia, Royal Castle in Warsaw, 12th Chopin Confrontations in Antonin, Week of Talents in Tarnow, Studio S-1 in Warsaw, the Collegium Maius at the Jagiellonian Universtiy in Cracow, the fifth Baroque “Festival of Quiet Music” in Torun, in the Mirror Hall of Poznanski Palace in Lodz - a solo recital “in honour of Arthur Rubinstein”, Atma Villa in Zakopane, Primavera Festival in Cerea (Italy), National Philharmonic in Sofia (Bulgaria), in Stuttgart and Weimar (Germany), the Nohant Chopin Festival (France), in Chicago, Columbus (USA), St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London (Great Britain), St. David’s Hall in Cardiff, in Mexico, Bösendorfer Saal in Vienna, a concert tour of Chile with solo piano recitals in Antofagasta, Chillan, Concepcion, Iquique, Santiago de Chile, La Serena, Punta Arenas, Vina del Mar (Palacio Rioja). In 2013, he played a recital at the Semanas Musicales Music Festival in Frutillar (Chile).

He made recordings for the Polish Radio, Radio Lodz, and the Chilean Television.

He participated in many masterclasses at home and abroad led by artists such as: Halina Czerny-Stefańska, Alicja Paleta-Bugaj, Dominique Merlet, Artur Pizarro, Konstantin Scherbakov, Cyprien Katsaris, Jeffrey Swann, Irina Ossipova, Christopher Elton, Klaus Hellwig. He himself led masterclasses in piano for students in Poland and abroad at the College of Fine Arts, Ohio (USA, 2007), the Conservatorio de Musica in Santiago (Chile, 2011), Escuela de Cultura y Difusion Artistica de Claudio Arrau in Chillan (Chile, 2017), University of Stavanger, Faculty of Performing Arts (Norway, 2022), Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in Hangzhou (China, 2023). He has been pianist and chamber musician at the International Music Masterclasses in Pulawy (2010-2017), where he has collaborated with the artist Dominik Polonski.