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Gold Country Piano Institute's
Master Instructor & Artistic Director,
Pawel Skrzypek
[ California Reviews - International Reviews ]
Pawel Skrzypek received his Master of Arts from the Frederic Chopin
Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland in 1977. He completed four years of
master studies of Postgraduate Professional Performance Master Course at the
Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester England from 1979 to 1983, under
the distinguished tutor Professor Ryszard Bakst, disciple of the brilliant
Russian masters’ esthetic school (Konstantin Igumnov and Harry Neuhaus). Mr.
Skrzypek is a winner of two First Prizes in piano competitions: the First
British Chopin Piano Competition in London (1980) and the Dudley National
Pianoforte Competition (1981 – ex-quo with Brazilian pianist Jose Feghali,
winner of the Van Clibun Competition) as well as many other awards in
competitions. In 1982 he was honored with the “Worshipful Company of Musicians
of London” medal, awarded for outstanding achievements in piano performance. He
has also won several prizes and awards in his native Poland.
As one of the most active Polish pianists, Pawel Skrzypek maintains a
rigorous performance schedule. In Poland he often appears as a guest
performer with the major philharmonic orchestras and participates in important
music festivals. He is also occasionally engaged to play chamber music and
collaborates with the renowned Camerata String Quartet. He has performed in most
European countries, having been invited to such prestigious halls as the
Beethovensaal in Vienna, and in many international music festivals including the
International Sintra Festival in Portugal and the International Chopin Festival.
His Russian debut took place in 1992, when he performed for an audience of six
thousand in the Main Hall of the Kremlin Palace of Congress in Moscow.
Mr. Skrzypek has also performed in Northern Africa (Algeria, Tunisia),
Southeast Asia ( Indonesia, Malasia, Thailand) Japan, and Canada (British Columbia).
Since 1990, he has journeyed regularly to the U.S. to both teach and perform
and appears under the auspices of the Patricia Alberti Performing Artists’
Management. He has made a number of archival recordings for the Polish Radio and
Television. In addition, he has recorded for the BBC, the Russian State Radio
and Television, and National Public Radio in the U.S., which broadcast his 1993
Austin, Texas recital nationwide, and many others.
Mr. Skrzypek’s performances have been praised by numerous reviewers and
aficionados. The opinion written by the well-known “Sacramento Bee” critic
William Glaskin can be quoted as typical:
"The modern world of music seems heavily populated with piano virtuosos. But
in his technical brilliance, and even more in the intensity of his physical and
emotional approach to the music, and in the power he has to express it, Skrzypek
seems truly extraordinary.”
In 1984 Pawel Skrzypek began his teaching career at the Frederic Chopin
State School of Music in Warsaw, where he presently chairs the Piano
Department. He received his Doctorate in 1992 and his Assistant Professor Degree
in 1996. And he continues to conduct piano courses in interpretation
internationally. His many master classes include Vancouver Academy of Music
(Vancouver, British Columbia), Conservatoir di Musica ( Kuala Lumpur, Malasia),
Thai Chopin Society and Yontararak Piano Studio (Bangkok, Thailand), Yayasan
Pendidikan Sekolah Music (Jakarta, Indonesia), and several organizations in the
U.S.
Currently, most of his master classes outside of Poland take place in the
U.S., on the West Coast, with appearances at the University of California,
Davis, California State University, Sacramento, the San Francisco Conservatory
of Music, Chopin Foundation of the U.S. (San Francisco), University of
California, Los Angeles, Snohomish County Piano Teachers’ Association (Everett,
Washington), Central University of Washington, Seattle, and the Thayer Piano
Company (Honolulu, Hawaii). Expanding his involvement on the West Coast, he
founded the Gold Country Piano Institute in the historic town of Nevada City,
California in 1999. In addition, he also directs one of Poland’s leading piano
courses, the Warsaw Piano Workshop held every August at the Frederic Chopin
School of Music. Skrzypek’s students regularly win top prizes at many piano
competitions. In 1998, he was awarded several prizes for his outstanding
achievements in the pedagogical field, among them the prestigious First Class
Award of the Polish Ministry of Culture.
Pawel Skrzypek rehearsing prior to his performance
in the Ajigasawa Music Festival in Japan.
Contact Gold Country Piano Institute
Address: P.O. Box 1321, Nevada City, CA 95959-1321
Telephone: (530) 265-8648 or (530) 432-3451, Fax: (530) 478-9485
URL: ./pawel_skrzypek.htm
Last modified: February 03, 2006
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