Halina Czerny-Stefanska

Halina Czerny-Stefańska was a Polish pianist, composer, and music teacher. She was born in Krakow, Poland, on December 31, 1922, and came from an aristocratic family.

She studied with Alfred Cortot at the École Normale de Musique in Paris and then with Zbigniew Drzewiecki at the Krakow Conservatory, from which she graduated in 1950. During the Second World War she hid at her family estate in the village of Branice near Krakow.

While still a student, she won first prize at the Chopin Piano Competition in 1949, sharing it with Bella Davidovich. This success opened the way to an international career. She performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls of Europe, Japan, the United States, and South America, and she made more than twenty concert tours in the Soviet Union.

Czerny-Stefańska appeared with renowned symphony orchestras under such conductors as Zubin Mehta, Georg Solti, and Witold Rowicki. Her concert repertoire ranged from Baroque music to contemporary works, although the music of Chopin held the central place in her programs.

In her later years she was invited to serve on the juries of international competitions, including the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1970, 1974, 1978, 1986, and 1998, and the Fryderyk Chopin Competition in 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, and 2000. She was also active as a teacher, giving master classes at a number of higher music institutions in Japan.

She took part in the social and political life of Krakow. From 1978 to 1985 she was a member of the Committee for the Restoration of Krakow's Monuments, and she was one of the founders of the Krakow gallery Kuźnica together with artists including Andrzej Wajda. During the period of martial law she belonged to a small group of artists who openly expressed support for the authorities, and she was booed at a concert in the Krakow Philharmonic on April 14, 1982.

She was married to the pianist Ludwik Stefański. Their daughter, Elżbieta Stefańska-Łukowicz, became a harpsichordist and professor at the Krakow Academy of Music. Halina Czerny-Stefańska died in Krakow on July 1, 2001, and was buried there with her husband at Rakowicki Cemetery.

Connections

This figure has 1 connection in the Music Lineage catalog.