Janina Fialkowska: 50 Years of Career

A pioneer among Canadian pianists and an iconic figure of the piano, Montréal native Janina Fialkowska has been captivating audiences around the world for more than half a century with an approach that is both natural and deeply expressive. She is also a teacher at the Orford Music Academy, having previously been invited in 1985 and 1986 for solo recitals and chamber music performances.

Shimmering passages, gentle whispers, and lively flourishes will punctuate this program, capturing the richness of European Romanticism. Works by Frédéric Chopin will reveal dramatic intensity and great expressive freedom, while those by Franz Schubert will offer intimate and radiant poetry.

With the mastery and sensitivity that make her a true heir of Chopin, Janina Fialkowska will make every note shine in an unforgettable interpretation.

Program

Please note that there will be an intermission during this concert.

Artist

Janina Fialkowska
For 50 years, concert pianist Janina Fialkowska has enchanted audiences and critics around the world. She has been praised for her musical integrity, her refreshing natural approach, and her unique piano sound, thus becoming “one of the Grandes Dames of piano playing” (Frankfurter Allgemeine).

Born in Canada, she began her piano studies with her mother at age 4, continuing in her native Montréal with Yvonne Hubert. In Paris she studied with Yvonne Lefébure and in New York at the Juilliard School with Sascha Gorodnitzki, experiencing the best of both French and Russian piano traditions. Her career was launched in 1974, when the legendary Arthur Rubinstein became her mentor after her prize-winning performance at his inaugural Master Piano Competition, calling her a “born Chopin interpreter”, laying the foundation for her lifelong identification with this composer.

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