Piotr Paleczny is one of the most outstanding Polish pianists and professors, a prize-winner of five international piano competitions. He completed his piano studies under Jan Ekier at the State College of Music (now Chopin University of Music) in Warsaw. His success at the 8th Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition (third prize and the polonaise prize) opened the doors to many prestigious concert halls worldwide. He has graced prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Musikverein in Vienna, Royal Festival Hall in London and Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. He has performed as a soloist with such distinguished orchestras as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra and Concertgebouw Orchestra. He has given masterclasses in New York, Tokyo, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Paris, Beijing and Mexico City. Since 1993 he has been artistic director of the International Chopin Festival in Duszniki-Zdroj, and since 2004 artistic director of the Ignacy Jan Paderewski International Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz. He has been awarded numerous prestigious honours, including the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, as well as Poland’s highest artistic honour – the ‘Gloria Artis’ Gold Medal for services to culture. In 1979 he was awarded the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle, and in 2019 the government of Japan honoured him with one of the country’s highest distinctions, the ‘Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Ribbon’. Piotr Paleczny teaches piano at the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, where in 2022 he was awarded the highest academic distinction – an honorary doctorate.