– This performance was the fulfillment of one of my musical dreams. Giving a Chopin piano concert in the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall was something I really dreamed of, and until now I don’t believe what just happened – said Kamil Pacholec, a pianist from Kielce, after his performance in the final of the Chopin Competition.
Kamil was among the 12 finalists. He is one of two Poles competing for victory in the world’s most important piano competition.
At this stage, pianists can choose one of two Fryderyk Chopin concertos, which they perform with the National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrzej Boreyka. They are: Piano Concerto in E minor, Op. 11 and in F minor, Op. 21.
Kamil chose the former. This is what he said about him in an interview with a TVP Kultura journalist:
– You hear this concert very often, it is often in the repertoire of pianists, you hear it in many concerts, yet every performance is something completely new for me, something that is created here and now on stage. This is probably because I feel a great freshness in this music, such a great hope of Chopin for the future and there you can hear this youthful happiness filtered through the genius filter. It’s also a unique music for me, and today it was a great experience to perform it – he admitted.
When asked how to take a fresh look at a piece being re-performed, he admitted it was easy to lose. He revealed that before the competition itself, when the number of hours he spent in front of the piano left its mark on him, he reached for works by… Mickiewicz.
– Often we practice a certain fragment for the hundredth or thousandth time, although we prepare it technically, our sensitivity may decrease slightly. Regardless, Chopin also encouraged his students to weave hours of exercise into walks or reading. You can always look at a particular work from a different perspective because we often think we know everything about a particular piece, yet we may not see anything in this music, so such inspirations are very useful – he explained.
Kamil Pacholc’s latest performance is available on Radio Kielce’s website.
KAMIL PACHOLEC
He was born on November 11, 1998. At the age of 7, he began to study piano at the State Music School. Ludomir Różycki in Kielce under the care of Małgorzata Kowalska. In 2017 he became a student of the Academy of Music. Karol Szymanowski in Katowice in the class of Professor Wojciech Świtała. Since 2019 he has been studying in the piano class of Prof. Ewa Pobłocka at the Music Academy. Feliks Nowowiejski in Bydgoszcz.
At the age of 11 he gave his first concert with the Świętokrzyska Philharmonic Orchestra in Kielce. Participation in national and international piano competitions has earned him many prizes, including the Grand Prix and 1st place in the 17th Polish National Piano Tournament. Halina Czerny-Stefańska in Żagań (2012), 1st place in the 18th National Piano Competition in Konin (2014), 1st place in the 5th Chopin Piano Tournament Halina and Ludwik Stefański in Kraków (2014), 1st place in the 14th International Piano Competition in Gorlitz ( 2015), Grand Prix in the 8th Piano Competition Irena Rolanowska in Kraków (2015), 3rd place in the International Piano Competition Cesar Franck in Kraainem / Brussels (2015), Grand Prix and the prize for the best performance of a piece by Fryderyk Chopin in the 14th Piano Competition Halina Czerny-Stefańska and Ludwik Stefański in Płock (2016). He is also the laureate of first place in the national auditions of high music school students in Warsaw, both as a soloist in 2011 and as a duet in 2013.
In 2016 he became the winner of the 47th Polish National Piano Competition Fryderyk Chopin, also winning special prizes for the best performance of a solo work by Fryderyk Chopin and the best performance of a piano concerto.
In 2018 he won the International Piano Competition in Livorno. In the same year he was the laureate of the main Piano Academy Eppan “The Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Prize” (Italy) and a semifinalist of the 1st International Chopin Competition for period instruments.
In 2019 he won 2nd prize in the 11th International Piano Competition IJ Paderewski, the prize for the best performance of the piano concerto by WA Mozart, the Jerzy Kolanowski prize for the best performance of the works of Fryderyk Chopin, the Pomeranian Philharmonic prize for the best performance of the works of IJ Paderewski and additional prizes in the form of invitations to concerts and recitals in Poland, USA, Brazil, Colombia and Ukraine.
He has performed in Poland, France, Italy, Ukraine, USA and Japan. In February 2016, he participated in the national television program “Young Musician of the Year 2016”. He has given recitals at many renowned piano festivals, including the 72nd International Chopin Festival in Duszniki Zdrój, the “Chopin a Paris” Festival, the Chopin Festival in Nohant, the Paderewski Festival in Raleigh in the USA (2017, 2018) and the Chopin Festival. Festival at Omotesando in Tokyo (2019). They brought him many enthusiastic reviews emphasizing “a perfect combination of youthful freshness with perfect technique and a deep understanding of the music he performs”.
He often participates in master piano courses led by eminent teachers, incl. Dang Thai Sona, Arie Vardi, Pavel Gililov, Andrzej Jasiński, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, Tamas Ungar and others.
He has performed many times as a soloist with the Świętokrzyska Philharmonic Orchestra, the Zielona Góra Philharmonic, the Lviv Virtuosos Orchestra and the Karol Szymanowski in Katowice. In 2012, he was included in the Extraordinary Talented Teens Program run by the Polish Children’s Fund in Warsaw. In his hometown, he received the “Talent więtokrzyskie” (2012, 2014, 2016) and “Hope of the City of Kielce” (2016). He received scholarships from the National Center for Artistic Education for outstanding academic achievement (2015, 2016). In 2015 he received a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for artistic achievements, and in 2016 a scholarship from the Prime Minister for exceptional artistic and scientific achievements. In 2018, he received a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage “Young Poland 2018”. Since 2016, it has been under the care of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute as part of the “Young Talents” program.
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