We would like to invite you to Villa Decius for a unique cycle of piano concerts, presenting a cross-section of works of solo piano literature performed by the pianist Marcin Koziak.
In selecting the works that will make up the programme of the entire cycle, the artist has traced the influences, inspirations, mutual relations between the works, styles and compositional techniques used by composers of piano music in Europe and around the world. The 'Historical Concerts' series includes nine piano recitals featuring music from the Baroque to the 21st century, written by more than 50 composers living on six continents.
The works selected by the artist for the recitals represent the vast majority of musical genres and forms found in the piano literature. The concert programmes will include sonatas, variations, suites, etudes, polonaises, mazurkas, lyrical works, nocturnes, preludes, poems and cycles of works. These will include some of the most demanding works of the piano literature, such as sonatas by Brahms, Vine, Barber, Bartok and Ravel's Miroirs, as well as miniatures, including lyrical pieces by Grieg, Takemitsu's Rain Sketch II and Schubert's Impromptu. Participating in a musical journey with the performer, music lovers will have the opportunity to explore the richness of more than 300 years of piano music from Giustini's sonata in G minor, considered to be the first piece written for piano, to Blake's Night Music, written in 2020. Polish music will also be heard during each recital.
After each of the concerts, a conversation between the artist and the audience is also planned, during which topics related to the given recital will be discussed (e.g. Australian music, women composers, Chopin's music inspirations at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and others). Participation in the meetings will allow one to trace the history of piano music, deepen one's knowledge of the pianist's craft, and become acquainted with the musical genres featured in the concert programmes, as well as learn about the pianist's subjective view of Polish piano literature in the context of music composed around the world.
PROGRAMME
- 25 February (Sunday) 5pm Beginnings. Baroque: L. Giustini, D. Scarlatti, F. Couperin, B. Pękiel, J.S. Bach
- 27 March (Wednesday) 6pm Classicism: J. Haydn, J. Elsner, W.A. Mozart, L. van Beethoven
- 30 April (Tuesday) 6pm Romanticism I: F. Chopin, R. Schumann, F. Mendelssohn, F. Schubert
- 15 May (Wednesday) 6pm Romanticism II: F. Liszt, J. Zarębski, J. Brahms
- 16 June (Sunday) 5pm Romanticism III Turn of the century: E. Grieg, I. Albeniz, E. Granados, L. Godowski
- 8 September (Sunday) 5pm Impressionists, Colourists...: C. Debussy, M. Ravel, K. Szymanowski
- 6 October (Sunday) 5pm Neoclassicism, folklorism, vitalism...: B. Bartok, G. Bacewicz, P. Hindemith, A. Ginastera
- 17 November (Sunday) 5pm Kaleidoscope of 20th century music: A. Webern, G. Gershwin, B. Britten, R. Palester, S. Barber, O. Messiean
- 15 December (Sunday) 5pm Contemporary music for me. 1989- : C. Vine, P. Mykietyn, P. Vasks, T. Takemitsu, G. Ligeti, M. Blake
Marcin Koziak
He was born in 1989 in Krakow, in a family with musical traditions. At the age of ten, he won his first national piano competition and made his debut with the Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra a year later. He has given concerts in Europe, Asia and North America, including Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Great Britain, Russia, Israel, the USA, Japan, China, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, Romania, Croatia, Georgia, the Canary Islands, Ukraine and Hungary.
The pianist has taken part in many significant festivals and concert cycles: La Roque d'Anthéron International Piano Festival, Chopin and his Europe, Rubinstein Piano Festival, Music in Old Kraków, Emanacje, La Folle Journée au Japon, La Folle Journée au Varsovie, ASEM Culture and Arts Festival, International Chopin Festival in Duszniki Zdrój, Kiev Summer Music Evenings.
His concerts have been broadcast by Radio Ottava in Japan, Radio France Musique, Polish Radio and Polish Television. He has two discs of Frédéric Chopin's music to his credit.
He has won numerous prizes at international piano competitions, including 1st prize at the 2nd International Chopin Competition for Young Pianists (Budapest 2006), 2nd prize and three additional prizes at the 7th International Young Pianist Competition "Arthur Rubinstein in memoriam" (Bydgoszcz 2007), 3rd prize at the 10th International Piano Competition (Hastings, UK, 2014); he is also a semi-finalist and winner of three extra-statutory prizes at the 16th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (2010), as well as a semi-finalist at the 14th International Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition in Tel Aviv (2014). Frederic Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw (2010), as well as semi-finalist of the 14th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv (2014) and the 16th Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in Salt Lake City (2014). In 2021, he was awarded 3rd prize and four additional prizes at the Stanisław Moniuszko International Polish Music Competition in Rzeszów, performing in a duet with Aleksandra Kuls, while in 2022 he was awarded 2nd prize and the prize for the best Polish ensemble at the 21st Kiejstut Bacewicz International Chamber Music Competition in Łódź, performing with Marta Gidaszewska and Robert Łaguniak.
Since 2016, he has been working as a pedagogue at the Mieczysław Karłowicz State Music School Complex in Kraków. He has given master classes and music workshops in Poland and China. He has also been working with the National Children's Fund for several years.
