For over 55 years concert pianist Janina Fialkowska has enchanted audiences and critics around the world. She has been praised for her musical integrity, her refreshing natural approach and her unique piano sound thus becoming “one of the Grandes Dames of piano playing” (Frankfurter Allgemeine).
Born in Canada, she began her piano studies with her mother at age 4 , continuing in her native Montreal with Yvonne Hubert. In Paris she studied with Yvonne Lefébure and in New York at the Juilliard School with Sascha Gorodnitzki. Her career was launched in 1974, when the legendary Arthur Rubinstein became her mentor after her prize-winning performance at his inaugural Master Piano Competition.
Since then she has performed with the foremost orchestras worldwide under the baton of such conductors as Zubin Mehta, Bernard Haitink, Lorin Maazel, Sir Georg Solti, Sir Roger Norrington and , to name two of the younger generation, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Klaus Makela. She has won special recognition for a series of important premieres, notably Liszt’s newly discovered Third Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony and several contemporary Canadian piano concertos. Ms Fialkowska’s discography includes over 15 CDs with ATMA Classique including many award-winning discs, e.g. the BBC Music Magazine’s 2013 “Instrumental CD of the Year” award as well as the Canadian “Juno Award” in 2018.
Her native Canada has bestowed upon her their highest honours: “Officer of the Order of Canada”, the “Governor General’s 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award in Classical Music” as well as three honorary doctorates Acadia university, Wilfrid Laurier university and Queen’s university .
Still very active on the concert circuit around the globe , she also sits on multiple international piano competition juries including the Honens competition , Geneva, the ARD competition in Munich , the Rubinstein in Tel Aviv , Utrecht, Helsinki , Montreal and many more.
Ms Fialkowska is widely sought after for her Master Classes preparing young pianists of all nationalities for competitions and concerts. More specifically she has offered private coaching to some of Canada’s top young piano talents: Charles Richard Hamelin, Bruce Liu and Kevin Chen.
In 2021, her long -awaited autobiography A Note in Time, was released to universal acclaim and garnered rave reviews: “ A Mesmerizing Memoir” ( Classical Voice North America) , “ A Totally Absorbing Read” ( La Scena Musicale). It is now available worldwide.
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