Anna Górecka is an accomplished pianist, deeply engaged with the richness and diversity of 20th and 21st-century music. Her repertoire also includes masterpieces by great Classical and Romantic composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, and Brahms, among others. A central theme of her musical exploration is fostering dialogue between composers from different eras and styles, which she frequently pursues through collaborations with other musicians. Among them are renowned conductors such as Reinbert de Leeuw, Juozas Domarkas, Jacek Kaspszyk, Antoni Wit, Agnieszka Duczmal, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk, David Lloyd-Jones, Roland Bader, Marek Moś, Stephen Ellery, Volker Schmidt-Gertenbach, Michail Sinkiewicz, Wojciech Michniewski, Marek Pijarowski, Tomasz Bugaj, and others. Her collaboration with the excellent violinist Krzysztof Bąkowski resulted in a critically acclaimed album featuring the works of Karol Szymanowski. She also performs in a duet with the distinguished pianist Zbigniew Raubo.

Górecka embarked on her musical journey very early, being born into a family of musicians, with her mother, Jadwiga Górecka, a pianist and her father, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, a composer. This provided her with the privilege of being in contact with live music and eminent artists from a young age. At the age of four, she began piano lessons under the guidance of the famous Professor Wanda Chmielowska and later continued her studies with Bożena Dymek and Marta Czerewko. She graduated with distinction from the Academy of Music in Katowice in 1991, studying under Professor Andrzej Jasiński, the teacher of Krystian Zimerman. At her graduation concert, she performed Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor with the Silesian Philharmonic. In the same year, she began a two-year course at the Hochschule für Musik in Trossingen under the legendary Russian pianist and teacher, Professor Viktor Merzhanov. She also greatly benefited from masterclas ses with Professor Lee Kum Sing. Górecka received scholarships from the Ministry of Culture and Art and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst. She is a prizewinner of several prestigious piano competitions, including the Incontro Internaziona le Giovani Pianisti in Senigallia (1982), the Polish Piano Festival in Słupsk (1991), and the International Brahms Competition in Hamburg (1992).

While still studying, she engaged in an active concert career. Her debut at London’s Wigmore Hall in 1994 was hailed by critics as a „pianistic triumph,” launching her international career. Górecka has since undertaken numerous concert tours, including performances in Japan (in 1993 with Sinfonia Varsovia and in 1996 with the Silesian Philharmonic), the UK (in 1996 with The Great Symphony Orchestra of Polish Radio and Television in Katowice), and Spain (in 2002 with the Silesian Philharmonic). She performs in some of the most prestigious concert halls in Poland and around the world, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Osaka Festival Hall, Palau de la Música in Barcelona, Bösendorfer Saal in Vienna, Colston Hall in Bristol, Hermitage Theatre in Saint Petersburg, National Philharmonic in Warsaw, the Concert Hall of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, and the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio in Warsaw.

Górecka frequently participates in world premieres of contemporary works, with some pieces composed specifically for her, such as piano sonatas by Mikołaj Piotr Górecki and Tomasz Kamieniak. She has been a regular participant in the International Festival of Contemporary Music „Warsaw Autumn,” performing works by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Tomasz Sikorski, Zygmunt Krauze, among others.

A special place in Górecka’s repertoire holds the work of her father, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. In 2021, she served as the editor of a music album containing his previously unpublished works, released by Boosey & Hawkes. She recorded all of her father’s piano compositions on the album Anna Górecka plays Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, released in 2022, which received a nomination for the Fryderyk 2023 award in the „Album of the Year — Solo Recital” category. 

Phonographic activity is an essential part of Górecka’s artistic endeavors. She has made numerous recordings for radio and television and has released fifteen albums, featuring music by Mieczysław Karłowicz, Karol Szymanowski, and Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, with leading Polish and international labels such as Naxos, Warner Classics, RCA IPSA, CD Accord, and DUX. Five albums featuring Górecka as a soloist have been nominated for the prestigious Polish Fryderyk Award.

Górecka is a juror in national and international piano competitions and conducts courses for young pianists, such as the In ternational Piano Masterclasses in Katowice. From the outset of her professional career, she has combined her artistic activities with pedagogical work. She is a professor at the Academy of Music in Katowice and also teaches at a music high school. Her students have won several dozen awards and honorable mentions at Polish and international piano competitions. 

SZCZEPAN KOŃCZAL - Polish pianist, born in 1985 in Katowice.

He graduated with the highest distinction (Primus Inter Pares medal) from the Academy of Music in Katowice, where he studied under Prof. Józef Stompel’s guidance. He has participated in masterclasses with such artists as Krystian Zimerman, Peter Donohoe, Dang Thai Son, Alexander Korsantia, Anna Malikova, Joan Havill, Bernard Ringeissen, John Perry, Andrzej Jasiński, Lee Kum Sing, Victor Merzhanov.

He has been a semi finalist of the 15th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (2005; WFIMC) as well as a prize-winner of several significant piano competitions: 16th Vianna da Motta International Piano Competition (5th prize and special award for the best interpretation of the mandatory work, Lisbon, Portugal, 2007; WFIMC), 11th UNISA International Piano Competition (6th prize, Pretoria, South Africa, 2008; WFIMC), 4th Tbilisi International Piano Competition (3rd prize, Georgia, 2009; WFIMC), 2nd International Piano Competition Spazio Teatro (1st prize and special award, Milan, Italy, 2010), 9th Concours Grieg – International Competition for Pianists (2nd prize and two special awards, Oslo, Norway, 2008), 3rd Campillos International Piano Competition (3rd prize, Spain, 2009), 1st Luciano Luciani International Piano Competition (1st prize, Laurignano, Italy, 2011), 7th Mozart International Piano Competition (1st prize, Frascati, Italy, 2012), 3rd Ella Philipp International Piano Competition (1st prize, Timisoara, Romania, 2011), 16th Kerikeri International Piano Competition (2nd prize and audience prize, New Zealand, 2012), 1st Verona International Piano Competition (2nd prize, Italy, 2012), 8th Lissone International Music Competition (1st prize, Italy, 2013), 5th Caraglio International Piano Competition (1st prize, Italy, 2014), 21st Carl Filtsch International Festival Competition for Pianists (2nd prize and Szaunig Prize, Sibiu, Romania, 2016). Finalist of the Tallinn International Piano Competition (Estonia, 2006), triple laureate of the National Frederick Chopin Piano Competitions in Warsaw in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Earlier, he was awarded 1st prizes in seven international and national piano competitions for youth, as well as 2nd prize in the 7th Takasaki International Art and Music Competition (Japan, 2001).

He has performed during Chopin festivals at Nohant, Duszniki-Zdrój and the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, during the Rubinstein Piano Festivals in Łódź, Festival of Polish Piano Art in Słupsk, festivals and concert seasons in Milan, Montecatini Terme, Folgaria, San Giulio and Ischia (Italy), Locarno (Switzerland), Sunderland, Newcastle, Carlisle (England), Kuressaare (Estonia), Istanbul and Izmir (Turkey), Tbilisi (Georgia).

He has cooperated with such orchestras as: Sinfonia Varsovia, Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra, Silesian Philharmonic, Toruń Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Gulbenkian, Turkish Presidential Symphony Orchestra, Izmir State Symphony Orchestra, Bursa State Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Filarmonica Banatul, Chamber Orchestra of South Africa and such conductors as: Antoni Wit, Tadeusz Strugała, Marek Pijarowski, Michał Klauza, Szymon Bywalec, Jerzy Swoboda, Marcin Nałęcz Niesiołowski, Andres Mustonen, Mitsuyoshi Oikawa, Boon Hua Lien, Jüri Alperten, Heiko Mathias Förster, Per Sigmund Thorp, Peter Csaba, Gheorghe Costin, Arjan Tien.

He has received scholarships from: the Ministry of Culture on six occasions (1998, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008), the Prime Minister (2002), the Hugo Kołłątaj Foundation (2003), the International Frederick Chopin Foundation (2003). During 1998-2004 he was supported by the Polish Children’s Fund. In 2010 he became a laureate of the national program Młoda Polska (offered by the Ministry of Culture). In 2022 he was awarded the Scholarship for the Outstanding Young Scholars by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

He has appeared at many venues in Poland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France, England, Norway, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Cyprus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, China, Japan, South Africa, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Currently he is an assistant professor at the Academy of Music in Katowice (where he received his doctorate, based on Estonian piano miniatures, in 2019), gives masterclasses and serves as a jury member of piano competitions in Poland and Japan.

Łukasz Byrdy is one of the most outstanding pianists of the younger generation, who during his concert career spanning over 10 years, has performed several hundred times in most European countries, as well as in the USA, Canada, China, and the United Arab Emirates.

Born in Katowice, he is a laureate of over 20 international piano competitions, including winning top prizes at the Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition in Beijing and at the International Piano Competition in Hanover. He has also been awarded at competitions in Switzerland, Italy, Malta, and Poland. Following enthusiastically received performances at the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, his career noticeably gained momentum. Łukasz Byrdy is also one of the ten semifinalists of the prestigious Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary (2022) and a recipient of numerous scholarships and artistic awards, including multiple scholarships from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and the „Young Poland” award given to the most outstanding artists of the young generation.

The pianist has been frequently invited as a soloist and chamber musician to music festivals in Vilnius (Christopher Festival in the Bernardine Park), Paris („Chopin au jardin” and „Chopin a Paris” at the Orangery in the Bagatelle Park), Aspen (Music Festival and School) and Moscow (Polish-Russian Music Festival). He has performed in Warsaw at the „Chopin and His Europe” festival and the Ignacy Jan Paderewski International Festival, the „Chopin in the Colors of Autumn” festival in Ostrów Wielkopolski, the „Silesian Quartet and its Guests” Chamber Music Festival in Katowice, the International Fryderyk Chopin Festival in Duszniki Zdrój and the Jerzy Waldorff Festival in Radziejowice. The artist has performed in the world's major music centers, presenting his interpretations on prestigious stages such as Harris Concert Hall in Aspen (USA), Bella Concert Hall and Rozsa Centre in Calgary (Canada), Orangery in the Bagatelle Park in Paris (France), Aula of the Sapienza University in Rome (Italy), Pushkin Museum and Scriabin Museum in Moscow (Russia), concert halls of music conservatories in Beijing and Chengdu (China) and Tianfu Center in Chengdu (China). In Poland he has performed in numerous philharmonic halls, as well as in the Concert Hall of the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR) in Katowice, the Lutosławski Polish Radio Concert Studio in Warsaw, the European Music Center in Lusławice, the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw, the Fryderyk Chopin Museum in Warsaw, the Birthplace of Fryderyk Chopin in Żelazowa Wola, the Royal Castle in Warsaw, the Royal Theater and the Palace on the Isle in the Royal Łazienki Park in Warsaw.

Łukasz Byrdy graduated from the Universität der Künste in Berlin and the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań and is currently a faculty in the piano department of the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań. He conducts numerous courses and masterclasses in Poland and abroad, collaborating with, among others: Mount Royal University in Calgary, the University of Agder in Kristiansand, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theater in Tallinn and the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in Chengdu. In his pedagogical career, he has been invited several times to conduct masterclasses on Morningside Music Bridge - one of the most prestigious music summer programs for the most talented young musicians from around the world, that takes place annually at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Łukasz Byrdy has made numerous recordings for radio and television. His performances have been broadcast by Polish Radio, Polish Television, Lithuanian National Radio and Television, Central Chinese Television CCTV, and Sichuan Radio and Television.

In 2017, with support of the Piotr Kler Foundation, his debut album with piano concertos by F. Chopin and W. A. Mozart was released.