Jan Lisiecki
| Jan Lisiecki | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jan Milosz Lisiecki |
| Born | March 23, 1995 Calgary, Canada |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupations | Pianist |
| Instruments | Piano |
Jan Lisiecki (born March 23, 1995) is a classical pianist. Born in Calgary, Canada to Polish parents, Lisiecki is most well known as being extremely accomplished in piano as well as in academics at a young age.
“I concisely remember the moment when my hands and feet gradually gained control and I was able to make the piano sing. My powerful relationship with the piano began and I started to discover my voice. As I play, I feel that the magic of the music is emerging from the piano, and also is developing in me – I feel the light shining into my heart. I experience joy, happiness, love; but also sadness and pain. And I have the strong desire to share it with others.” – Jan Lisiecki
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[edit] Biography
Jan Miłosz Lisiecki has been studying piano since the age of five at the Mount Royal University Conservatory.
At age 16, Jan is already making a name for himself on the Canadian and international stage. He had his orchestral debut at the age of 9, and has since performed more than 100 times with orchestras in Canada and internationally, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, L’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Minnesota Orchestra, Sinfonietta Cracovia, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, and Sinfonia Varsovia, to name a few. On January 1, 2010 Jan had the honour to open the Chopin 200th Birthday celebrations from the composers’ birthplace, Żelazowa Wola. In January 2010, he gave a “dazzling” performance of the Chopin 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 France, in May he opened the Seoul International Music Festival in Korea. In July he performed for Her Majesty the Queen of England and a hundred thousand people on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada. In October he signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Since 2010 he is represented by IMG Artists. Jan is already engaged for the 2011/2012 season with multiple orchestral and solo performances across the world.
Jan has played at Carnegie Hall, the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, Kaufman Hall, Salle Cortot and has shared the stage with Yo-Yo Ma, Pinchas Zukerman, James Ehnes, and Emanuel Ax. He has performed in the USA, Korea, China, Japan, France, Germany, England, Scotland, Italy, Guatemala, Germany, Poland and throughout Canada. Jan is a dedicated performer of chamber music and has collaborated with the New Zealand String Quartet, Quatour Ébène, and the 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 the USA.
Recognized for his poetic and mature playing, Lisiecki was awarded many prestigious awards including the 2010 "Debut Atlantic" tour, the 2010 Révélations Radio-Canada Musique, and the 2011 Jeune Artiste des Radios Francophones. Jan has won numerous major Canadian music titles. In 2009 he was awarded Grand Prize at the OSM Standard Life Competition (the youngest in history). In 2008 he won the Grand Award in both the Canadian Music Competitions (June 2008) and the Canadian Music Festival (August 2008, as the youngest in history). Jan was a prize winner in seven international competitions in the USA, 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 where broadcast by the Polish Radio 2. 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 magazine describes Lisiecki as “an unmannered virtuoso already with virile, and above all, irresistibly natural playing.” BBC Music Magazines’ July 2010 review commended "Lisiecki's mature musicality,” and his “sensitively distilled” interpretation of the contrasting concerti, played “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".
His performances have been broadcast nationally on CBC Radio in Canada, Polish Radio, Radio France, Radio Luxembourg, Austrian Radio, and German Radio, as well as on French Television 3 and the TV 1 and 2 in Poland. Jan was featured in the CBC Next! Series on March 1, 2009, on Sunday Afternoon in Concert as one of the most promising young artists in Canada. Two of his recitals that were recorded by the CBC are available on their "Concerts on Demand" website. On September 7, 2009, CBC National News broadcast a Joe Schlesinger documentary about Jan, "A 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. In January 2011, he graduated from Western Canada High School in Calgary, Canada.
[edit] Highlights
- 2012 – Toronto Symphony Orchestra debut, Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, Canada [1]
- 2011 – Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal debut, New Symphony Hall, Place des Arts, Montreal, Canada [2]
- 2011 – Jeune Artiste des Radios Francophones (award)
- 2010 – Deutsche Grammophon exclusive artist
- 2010 – Diapason d’Or Découverte (award)
- 2010 – Révélations Radio-Canada Musique (award)
- 2010 – Orchestra London debut, London, Canada
- 2010 – Symphony Nova Scotia debut, 2 concerts, Halifax, Canada
- 2010 – Chicago debut, Newberry Library Auditorium, Chicago, USA
- 2010 – Tokyo debut, Kioi Hall, Tokyo, Japan
- 2010 – Brussels debut, l’Orchestre de Chambre de Wallonie, Hulencourt, Belgium
- 2010 – Symphony New Brunswick debut, 3 concerts, Canada
- 2010 – "Debut Atlantic" 10 concerts tour, Canada
- 2010 – Fête de la Musique de Tremblant Festival debut, Mont Tremblant, Canada
- 2010 – Soloist, 30th Anniversary of “Solidarity” directed by Robert Wilson, Gdańsk, Poland
- 2010 – Merano International Music Festival debut, Merano, Italy
- 2010 – Music Mountain Music Festival Debut, Falls Village, USA
- 2010 – Orford Music Festival debut, Orford, Canada
- 2010 – Sratford Summer Music Festival debut, Stratford, Canada
- 2010 – Soloist, Canada Day Performances from Parliament Hill
- 2010 – Toruń Symphonic Orchestra debut, Toruń, Poland
- 2010 – Guatemala debut, Auditorium Juan Bautista Gutiérrez, Guatemala City, Guatemala
- 2010 – Washington debut, Embassy of the Republic of Poland, Washington, USA
- 2010 – Korea debut, Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul, Korea
- 2010 – Regional Orchestra of Cannes, 4 concerts with Nelson Friere, Cannes, Nice, France
- 2010 – Germany debut, Gasteig, Kleiner Kozersaal, Munich, Germany
- 2010 – Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra debut, Wrocław, Poland
- 2010 – 6th International MIDEM Classical Awards Gala – live broadcast of concert by Polish Radio, Radio France, Radio Luxembourg, Austrian Radio, and German Radio
- 2009 – Festival d'Auvers-sur-Oise debut, Paris, France
- 2009 – Soloist, Summer Concerts, National Arts Centre with Pinchas Zukerman conducting, Ottawa, Canada
- 2009 – Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival debut, Ottawa, Canada
- 2009 – 60eme Festival de Musique de Menton debut, Menton, France
- 2009 – France debut, Salle Cortot, Animato Series, Paris, France
- 2009 – Rose Wagner Hall debut, Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation, Salt Lake City, USA
- 2008 – 92nd Street Y debut, Zukerman Chamber Players, New York, USA
- 2008 – Canadian Museum of Civilization debut, Ottawa, Canada
- 2008 – Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall debut, Sinfonia Varsovia, Warsaw, Poland
- 2008 – Minnesota Orchestra Debut, Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, USA
- 2008 – Orchestre Symphonique de Québec debut, Quebec City, Canada
- 2008 – Carnegie Hall debut, New York, USA
- 2008 – Place-des-Arts debut, McGill Chamber Orchestra, Montreal, Canada
- 2007 – Festival of the Sound debut, Parry Sound, Canada
- 2006 – National Gallery of Canada debut, Ottawa, Canada
- 2006 – Soloist, National Arts Center 10th Anniversary Gala, Ottawa, Canada
- 2006 – Soloist, Canada Day Concerts, National Arts Center, Ottawa, Canada
- 2006 – Performance for Her Excellency, Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean, Rideau Hall, Ottawa, Canada
- 2006 – National Arts Center Debut, Ottawa, Canada
- 2005 – Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra Debut, the youngest in history winner of the Mozart Competition, Calgary, Canada
- 2004 – Orchestral Debut at age 9, Calgary Civic Symphony, C3 Concerto Competition Winners' Gala, Calgary, Canada
[edit] Discography
A debut CD was released in January, 2010, by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute.
From the Fryderyk Chopin Institute's website:
"The first CD opening a new series of recordings performed on modern pianos. It is the recording of the Piano Concertos in F minor and E minor by Fryderyk Chopin, which were performed at the National Philharmonic Concert Hall during the festival Chopin and His Europe in 2008 and 2009 respectively. The performer was Jan Lisiecki, a 14-year-old great talent, born in Calgary. He was accompanied by Sinfonia Varsovia conducted by the British conductor and pianist Howard Shelley.
Recorded during the festival Chopin and his Europe at the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, August 21, 2008 [1–3] and August 20, 2009 [4–6]."
[edit] References
- Deal Puts Pianist on Path to Classical Stardom, Calgary Herald
- The Fryderyk Chopin Institute
- Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra
- UNICEF
- ProArts Society
