Ewa Pobłocka

Biography

Ewa Pobłocka is a prize-winner of the 10th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (1980), where she also won the prize for the best performance of mazurkas. She won First Prize in the International Viotti Music Competition in Vercelli (1977) and the gold medal in the International Festival of Young Laureates in Bordeaux (1979).

Ewa Pobłocka has performed throughout Europe and the Americas, as well as in China, Indonesia, the RSA, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Australia, in such venues as the Herkules-Saal in Munich, Musikhalle in Hamburg, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall, Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, Kyoi Hall in Tokyo, Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, Barbican Centre and Wigmore Hall in London, Musikverein in Vienna, Lincoln Center in New York, Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto and Sala Cecília Meireles in Rio De Janeiro, among many others. She has played as a soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Bayerischers Rundfunkorchester, Sinfonia Varsovia and Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. She repeatedly toured as a Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra soloist under the baton of Kazimierz Kord. She is an accomplished chamber musician.

She has given numerous first performances and made world premiere recordings of works by Polish contemporary composers, including Andrzej Panufnik, Witold Lutosławski (first Polish recording of the Piano Concerto with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the composer’s baton), Paweł Szymański and Paweł Mykietyn. Ewa Pobłocka has worked with European radio stations and recorded more than 50 discs (for Deutsche Grammophon, Polskie Nagrania, CD Accord and Bearton, among others). Many of her recordings have won prizes and critical acclaim, just to mention two ‘Record of the Year’ distinctions awarded by the 'Studio' Magazine and the John Field Medal for the recording of his complete Nocturnes (the first recording of the whole set ever made). She is the first Polish pianist in history to record both volumes of Das Wohltemperierte Klavier by Bach. Recently she has performed both the volumes during the recitali series in many venues in Europe. Her last album with the 1st book has been awarded as recording of the month by and has been placed among the fifty best recordings of Bach’s music in history by the 'Gramophone' Magazine, also receiving special commendation in 'The Record Geijutsu'.

She is a distinguished pedagogue, teaching at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. She has given numerous master classes in Canada, The United States, Vietnam, Japan, Mongolia, Korea, China, Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Poland, and Belgium, among many others. She has been a jury member of the most prestigious international piano competitions, such as the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, Artur Rubinstein Competition in Tel-Aviv, as well as the competitions in Hamamatsu, Pretoria, Calgary, Hastings and Ettlingen, among many others.

Ewa Pobłocka also willingly devotes herself to literary activities – her first book, ‘Forte-piano’, was released in 2021. Since 2020, she has been running the broadcasts ‘Start with Bach’ and ‘Bach’s Cases” in Polish Radio.

Discography

Ewa Pobłocka's critically acclaimed phonographic output includes over 50 albums, covering solo, chamber and concert repertoire from the baroque to the present, performed on contemporary and period instruments from Chopin's era. They were recorded, among others, for Deutsche Grammophon, Pony Canyon, Victor JVC, Conifer Records, Polskie Nagrania "Muza", NIFC, CD Accord and BeArTon. She was the first Polish pianist to record both volumes of Bach's Das Wohltemperierte Klavier (NIFC 2018, 2023). The album with the first volume was included on the list of the 50 best Bach recordings in history published by the prestigious "Gramophone" magazine, and was also awarded by this magazine as the album of the month.

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Bach

Bach’s music has been accompanying Ewa Pobłocka from an very early age. The artist grew up to the sounds of the St. Matthew and St. John Passion. As a child, she was exposed to Cantatas, accompanying on the piano her mother – an outstanding singer. During her studies at Gdańsk schools and at the academy of music, Ewa Pobłocka presented the compositions of the Leipzig cantor at numerous concerts, competitions, and auditions with greatest passion. The pianist has been developing the art of interpreting the works of the master of polyphony, inter alia, during consultations with one of the greatest performers of Bach’s music of all time – Tatiana Nikolayeva.

Ewa Pobłocka began her phonographic adventure with Bach still before the Chopin Competition in 1980, making recordings for the Deutsche Grammophon label. After many years of artistic journey, which resulted in, among others, recordings of all the inventions, sinfonias and partitas, the Maestra decided to face the huge two-volume collection of preludes and fugues.

There is no pianist in the world who would not have encounter Das Wohltemperierte Klavier on artistic path. Comprised of two volumes, this masterpiece is one of the most ground-breaking works in the entire history of music. Dedicated to musical youth athirst for learning, as well as to those who are already advanced in their studies, a collection of twenty-four preludes and fugues requires from the pianist technical mastery and great humility. On the world stages one can rarely hear the full cycle being performed, which – invariably for many years – has been a huge intellectual challenge and a touchstone of artistic maturity. The complete cycle was recorded by Ewa Poblocka as the first among Polish pianists since Wanda Landowska. Published by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in cooperation with Shigeru Kawai, the two-disc album with the first volume of the collection was awarded the title of the album of the month by the prestigious 'Gramophone' magazine and the highest distinction of 'The Record Geijutsu'. The reviewers noticed, among others, an 'impeccable aesthetic taste', 'outstanding sense of polyphony', 'excellent technique and special skill in constructing musical narrative', stating that Ewa Pobłocka 'fits into the most outstanding tradition of Bach interpretation' and this is 'exactly the point' (Jed Distler). The 'Gramophone' magazine included her recording among the fifty best recordings of Bach's music ever made. This is already the seventh album featuring Bach’s works in the phonographic output of Ewa Pobłocka, whose other interpretations have also been appreciated by critics on a number of occasions. Compiled between 2021 and 2022, the recording of the second volume of the series will be released in late 2022.

In 2018-2022, Ewa Pobłocka performed both volumes of the cycle dozens of times on Polish stages (almost all philharmonics and major concert venues) and abroad (Japan, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom). During this time, she also prepared two cycles of more than a dozen broadcasts devoted to the music of the Leipzig Cantor for the Second Program of Polish Radio: ‘Start with Bach’ (2020-2021) and ‘Bach's Cases’ (2021-2022).

Her next artistic project with Bach’s music after the monumental Das Wohltemperierte Klavier will be the legendary Goldberg Variations, which she plans to perform for the first time as early as the second half of 2023.

Ewa Pobłocka
Ewa Pobłocka

News

12.02.2024

Master classes in Vienna

On 9 - 15 July 2024, Professor Ewa Pobłocka will conduct master classes in Vienna as part of the European Music Institute Vienna. More information in the link below:
https://emi-vienna.com/en/ewa-poblocka/

20.02.2024

Tianjin Juilliard Piano Festival 2024 master classes

On 4-11 August 2024 Professor Ewa Pobłocka will conduct master classes as part of the Tianjin Juilliard Piano Festival 2024. This event is organized by The Tianjin Juilliard - a branch of famous The Juilliard School located in New York City.
https://www.tianjinjuilliard.edu.cn/tjpf

03.03.2024

Master classes in Brescia

On 16 - 21 September 2024 Professor Ewa Pobłocka will conduct master classes as part of the IX International Festival & Summer Academy. The master classes will take place in Italy, in beautiful Brescia. Applications are accepted until 30 July 2024.
https://www.talentsummercourses.it

Contact

We invite you to contact us - For concert organizers, master course participants, and anyone interested in cooperation or obtaining additional information.

Marcin Gorayski

enterMezzo Artistic Agency

entermezzo@op.pl
tel. 500 659 199

Mateusz Hyży

mateusz.hyzy@icloud.com
tel. 507 139 432

Email for the students

prof.epoblocka@yahoo.com