Krzysztof Stanienda
is an extremely talented pianist of the young generation. He is a graduate of the K. Szymanowski Academy of Music in Warsaw in the class of Professor Maria Palmowska-Guz and the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw in the piano class of Professor Edward Wolanin and in the chamber music class of Professor Krystyna Makowska-Ławrynowicz. He has studied under eminent pianists such as Dang Thai Son, Vera Nosina, Martin Hughes, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, Andrzej Jasiński, Stefan Kutrzeba as well as under eminent chamber musicians such as Lee Kum-Sing, Avedis Kouyoumdjian, Márta Gulyás, Hatto Beyerle, Krystyna Makowska-Ławrynowicz, Maria Szwajger-Kułakowska and Jerzy Marchwiński. In 2012, he graduated from the Postgraduate Study of Song at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, working with, among others, Maja Nosowska, Maciej Pikulski, Urszula Kryger and Jadwiga Rappé.
Laureate of national and international competitions. Scholarship holder of the “Young Poland 2016” programme of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. Co-founder of the Chopin Piano Quintet, with which in 2018 he was the winner of the International Anton Garcia Abril Chamber Music Competition in Spain, and in 2014 he won first place at the International Chamber Music Competition “Contessa Tina Orsi Anguissola Scotti” in Pianello Val Tidone and first place in the Chamber Music category and first place at the 12th International Competition “Premio Citta di Padova” in Padua. He was also awarded the title of laureate at the S. Vainiunas International Chamber Music Competition in Lithuania and the title of finalist at the J. Brahms International Chamber Music Competition in Pörtschach, Austria. In 2009 he was a finalist at the Gianni Bergamo International Chamber Music Competition Classic Music Award in Switzerland, and in 2007 he won the Special Award for the best performance of a work by a Polish composer at the K. Bacewicz International Chamber Music Competition in Łódź. Krzysztof Stanienda has three albums of chamber music to his credit. The first was published by Musica Sacra and received a nomination for the ‘Fryderyk Awards 2008’. The second album, recorded with Kama Grott and Artur Kasperk, was released by Universal Music Polska in 2010. The third is the latest DVD album ‘Piano Quintets’, recorded together with the Chopin Piano Quintet in July 2016, which features works by Robert Schumann and Dmitri Shostakovich.
Krzysztof Stanienda is engaged in a lively concert activity. Since 2005 he has performed at such venues as the National Philharmonic, the Polish Baltic Philharmonic, the Silesian Philharmonic, the Philharmonic of Lublin, the Philharmonic of Opole, the Szczecin Philharmonic, the Podlasie Philharmonic; at festivals – Music Festival in Łańcut, Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival in Kraków, “Arsenal Nights” in Wrocław, All-Poland “Week of Talents” in Kąśna Dolna, as well as abroad – Kyoto International Students Music Festival 2011 in Japan, Devonie Concert Series in London, Quartetto di Bergamo in Italy and in Austria, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden and Spain.
He performs with such ensembles as “Sinfonia Varsovia”, “Chopin Academia Orchestra”, “Wratislavia” Orchestra, Austrian Chamber Orchestra “Spirit of Europe”, Silesian Chamber Orchestra, Baltic Neopolis Orchestra, Camerata Quartet, Barock Quartet, as well as with outstanding instrumentalists such as. Reiko Otani, Jakub Jakowicz, Tomasz Strahl, Sławomir Tomasik, Michael Vaiman, Stefan Kamasa, Piotr Reichert, Katarzyna Budnik, Jan Stanienda, Maria Stanienda, Lidia Grzanka-Urbaniak, Leszek Brodowski, Bartosz Bryła, Kama Grott, Andrea Azzi, Artur Kasperek, Rafał Kwiatkowski, Agata Szymczewska, Maria Machowska, Marcin Zdunik, Anna Maria Staśkiewicz, Marta Kowalczyk, Magdalena Bojanowicz and others.
Since 2012, he has been a lecturer at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. He is also active as a teacher at music schools in Warsaw. Co-founder of the Jan Stanienda International Music Workshops in Podkowa Leśna since 2020. Since 2008, he has collaborated as a co-principal pianist at the European Music Workshops in Kołobrzeg, the Summer Music Academy in Żagań, the Janowiec Music Interpretations and the Tadeusz Wroński International Violin Course in Nałęczów. He is also invited to international events as a competition pianist.
photo: Anita Wąsik-Płocińska