Fryderyk Chopin, born in 1810, first came into the picture in Warsaw as a talented piano beginner and, shortly thereafter, as a fifteen-year-old composer. Until his debut in Vienna in 1829, he remained virtually unknown in the European world of concert performance and composition. By that time, his oeuvre already included several works whose brilliant style might have served the German public as an excellent confirmation of the prevailing compositional rules of the era — yet the individuality of his genius was already clearly apparent. What stands out is the already unmistakable individuality in the common forms of the rondo, variations and nocturnes, but above all, the generally Polish character in melodic, rhythmic and formal expression in mazurkas, polonaises and piano concertos — a quality not previously encountered in the works of other composers — and of course the Etudes Op. 10 with their fundamentally new, unprecedented and almost revolutionary piano technique.

The lecture conc...

Prof. Adam Wibrowski

Pianist and internationally acclaimed piano educator Adam Wibrowski studied with professors Halina Czerny-Stefanska and her husband Ludwik Stefanski at Cracow Academy of Music where he received his Masters Degree in piano performance. Later, Dr. Wibrowski followed his studies at Doctorate 3 Cycle at Sorbonne, Paris. His piano awards include: 1st Prize at the National Chopin Competition in Poland, Diploma de Honor at Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona, Spain, and the First Prize at the Union Francaise des Artistes Musiciens, France. Mr. Wibrowski received also the MTNA Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music and Music Studies (USA). He has taught successively at Grenoble Conservatory, France, University of Southern California, USA, European Virtuosity Class, Netherlands, Katowice Superior Academy of Music, Poland, and Paris Conservatory, France, the latter continuously since 2000.

Mr. Wibrowski has taught master classes at major Universities and Conservatories...

Malte Henrik Gohr

Malte Henrik Gohr was born in Hamburg in 2002. At the age of four, he moved with his parents to Zurich, where he began taking piano lessons at five years old. By the time he was seven, he won his first music competition. Many first prizes followed in Swiss competitions, such as the Swiss Youth Music Competition and the Zurich Music Competition. Since 2014, he has lived in Hamburg again, where his musical talent was nurtured as a scholarship holder of the Claussen-Simon Foundation through piano lessons and participation in the pre-college program at the State Youth Music School Hamburg. His teachers included Olga and Andrej Hoteev as well as Stephan Widmer. Masterclasses with Christopher Park, Gabriel Kwok, Dinara Klinton, Ewa Kupiec, and Mikhail Voskresensky further enriched his musical education.

Malte continued to win awards in Germany as well, both in national and international piano competitions, such as the "Chinese-German Young Piano Competition" and the national level of "Jugend...