Maria Korecka Soszkowska

Maria Korecka-Soszkowska is a world-renowned Polish pianist who has gained international recognition through a long and diverse musical career. Maria’s talents are evident not only in her piano performances and competition appearances, but also in her teaching, which she has pursued both in Poland and abroad. Her reputation has led to invitations to serve on the juries of numerous music competitions.

She studied in Poland under the distinguished professor Henryk Sztompka, and also in Austria in the class of Professor Dieter Weber. Since the beginning of her career in 1962, Maria has given thousands of concerts and recitals and has performed with many philharmonic orchestras around the world, including in Turkey, Cuba, Romania, Germany, and Ukraine.

Throughout her career, Maria has won many competitions and appeared at countless festivals, both national and international. These include the I. J. Paderewski National Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz (Second Prize, 1961), the National Mozart Music Competition in Katowice (Honourable Mention, 1956), Moderne Klaviertechnik in St. Moritz (First Prize), and the 7th International Chopin Competition in Warsaw (Honorary Diploma for the second stage, 1965). In 1978, she received the José Miguel Ruiz Morales Prize (the only award for the best interpretation of Spanish music) at the competition in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

The same can be said of her festival performances, including appearances in Mariánské Lázně, Brno (1982), Ankara, Turkey (1989), Ghent, Belgium (1987, 1999), Druskininkai, Lithuania (2011, 2012), Minsk, Belarus (2013), the Czech Republic (1985), as well as many festivals in Poland.

As a jury member, Maria has also participated in competitions throughout Europe: in Ukraine (Vorzel, 1999), Denmark (Helsingør, 2001), Lithuania (Druskininkai, 2011 - 2012), the Russian Federation (Moscow, 2014), Lithuania (Visaginas, 2014), and several competitions in Poland, including the Inter-University Chopin Music Competition named after Miłosz Magin (Łódź, 2007), the Subcarpathian Chopin Music Competition (Rzeszów, 2012), the A. Tansman Regional Piano Competition (Łódź, 2013), and the L. Godowsky International Piano Competition (Warsaw, 2014). In 2013, she was the organizer and director of the International Piano Competition Performance Without Limits (Łódź). She has also conducted piano courses and workshops in Poland, Ukraine, Denmark, and Lithuania.

In 1967, Maria began her pedagogical career as a teacher at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw. From 1988 to 1990, she served as Professor of Piano at Bilkent University in Ankara. Since 1992, she has been affiliated with the Grażyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź, where she completed all stages of her academic career, from senior lecturer to professor (2000) and full professor (2006). In 2007, she was appointed Head of the Piano Department.

During her career, Maria Korecka-Soszkowska has made recordings for television, radio, and commercial release (seven albums, including six CDs).

Since 2019, she has served as President of the Stanisław Moniuszko Warsaw Music Society. She was reappointed to this position on 26 February 2024 for another term. Since 1995, she has collaborated with the PRESTO Concert Agency.