Teaching Dates : August 21 - 25, 2026
Teaching Languages : English, Polish
Teaching Languages : English, Polish
Szczepan Kończal - Polish pianist, graduated with the highest distinction (Primus Inter Pares medal) from the Academy of Music in Katowice, where he studied under Prof. Józef Stompel’s guidance.
He has participated in masterclasses with such artists as Krystian Zimerman, Peter Donohoe, Dang Thai Son, Alexander Korsantia, Anna Malikova, Joan Havill, Bernard Ringeissen, John Perry, Andrzej Jasiński, Lee Kum Sing, Victor Merzhanov.
He has been a semifinalist of the 15th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (2005; WFIMC) as well as a prize-winner of several significant piano competitions: 16th Vianna da Motta International Piano Competition (5th prize and special award for the best interpretation of the mandatory work, Lisbon, Portugal, 2007; WFIMC), 11th UNISA International Piano Competition (6th prize, Pretoria, South Africa, 2008; WFIMC), 4th Tbilisi International Piano Competition (3rd prize, Georgia, 2009; WFIMC), 2nd International Piano Competition Spazio Teatro (1st prize and special award, Milan, Italy, 2010), 9th Concours Grieg – International Competition for Pianists (2nd prize and two special awards, Oslo, Norway, 2008), 3rd Campillos International Piano Competition (3rd prize, Spain, 2009), 1st Luciano Luciani International Piano Competition (1st prize, Laurignano, Italy, 2011), 7th Mozart International Piano Competition (1st prize, Frascati, Italy, 2012), 3rd Ella Philipp International Piano Competition (1st prize, Timisoara, Romania, 2011), 16th Kerikeri International Piano Competition (2nd prize and audience prize, New Zealand, 2012), 1st Verona International Piano Competition (2nd prize, Italy, 2012), 8th Lissone International Music Competition (1st prize, Italy, 2013), 5th Caraglio International Piano Competition (1st prize, Italy, 2014), 21st Carl Filtsch International Festival Competition for Pianists (2nd prize and Szaunig Prize, Sibiu, Romania, 2016). Finalist of the Tallinn International Piano Competition (Estonia, 2006), triple laureate of the National Frederick Chopin Piano Competitions in Warsaw in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Earlier, he was awarded 1st prizes in seven international and national piano competitions for youth, as well as 2nd prize in the 7th Takasaki International Art and Music Competition (Japan, 2001).
He has performed during Chopin festivals at Nohant, Duszniki-Zdrój and the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, during the Rubinstein Piano Festivals in Łódź, Festival of Polish Piano Art in Słupsk, festivals and concert seasons in Milan, Montecatini Terme, Folgaria, San Giulio and Ischia (Italy), Locarno (Switzerland), Sunderland, Newcastle, Carlisle (England), Kuressaare (Estonia), Istanbul and Izmir (Turkey), Tbilisi (Georgia).
He has cooperated with such orchestras as Sinfonia Varsovia, Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra, Silesian Philharmonic, Toruń Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Gulbenkian, Turkish Presidential Symphony Orchestra, Izmir State Symphony Orchestra, Bursa State Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Filarmonica Banatul, Chamber Orchestra of South Africa and such conductors as: Antoni Wit, Tadeusz Strugała, Marek Pijarowski, Michał Klauza, Szymon Bywalec, Jerzy Swoboda, Marcin Nałęcz Niesiołowski, Andres Mustonen, Mitsuyoshi Oikawa, Boon Hua Lien, Jüri Alperten, Heiko Mathias Förster, Per Sigmund Thorp, Peter Csaba, Gheorghe Costin, Arjan Tien.
He has received scholarships from the Ministry of Culture on six occasions (1998, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008), the Prime Minister (2002), the Hugo Kołłątaj Foundation (2003), the International Frederick Chopin Foundation (2003). During 1998-2004 he was supported by the Polish Children’s Fund. In 2010 he became a laureate of the national program Młoda Polska (offered by the Ministry of Culture). In 2022 he was awarded the Scholarship for the Outstanding Young Scholars by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
He has appeared at many venues in Poland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France, England, Norway, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Cyprus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, China, Japan, South Africa, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Currently he is an assistant professor at the Academy of Music in Katowice (where he received his doctorate in 2019), gives masterclasses and serves as a jury member of piano competitions in Poland and abroad (i.a. International Piano Competition ‘Chopin in Asia’ in Japan).
