Description

This publication is the result of a desire to publicise some of the history of the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw (AMFC) and its long tradition of excellence in the art of piano performance, a tradition created by distinguished, world-renowned artists. 

1999, the 150th anniversary of the death of Fryderyk Chopin, was declared the Year of Chopin by UNESCO, and celebrated all over the world. Here, the idea of a series of celebrations arose in the Piano Department of which I was the Head. `Nestors of Polish Chopinistics' featured four outstanding musicians of the past who hold a special place in the history of the Academy: Zbigniew Drzewiecki, Jerzy Żurawlew, Margerita Trombini-Kazuro and Stanisław Szpinalski. After the closing of the Year of Chopin it was decided to continue the series under a new name, `Nestors of Polish Pianistics', and to feature five more Polish pianists who made an invaluable contribution to the Academy in Warsaw: Maria Wiłkomirska, Józef Turczyński, Aleksander Michałowski, Jerzy Lefeld and Józef Śmidowicz.

Maria Szraiber