Calendar of Cultural Events

All programs are subject to change. Please verify dates and times with The Kosciuszko Foundation Director of Cultural Affairs
Tom Pniewski -- (212) 734-2130 ext. 214

Chopin Piano Competition
April 3 - 5

The Kosciuszko Foundation will hold the 59th Annual Chopin Piano Competition, on Thursday through Saturday, April 3 - 5, 2008. Brilliant young pianists from across the country will compete, beginning at 10 a.m. on Thursday and Friday at the Foundation House, and at 2 p.m. on Saturday, in the Lang Recital Hall of Hunter College. Preliminaries are free and open to the public, but there is a $15 charge for Saturday's finals. Reservations are highly recommended, as the Competition is extremely popular.

David Dubal will chair the jury, which includes Mirian Conti and Jed Distler.

David Dubal is internationally known as a pianist, teacher, writer, and broadcaster. An acknowledged authority on the piano literature, Mr. Dubal’s highly acclaimed books include The Art of the Piano, Evenings with Horowitz, Reflections from the Keyboard, and Conversations with Menuhin. Mr. Dubal’s video, The Golden Age of the Piano, has been seen worldwide in four languages, and won him an Emmy award. His compact disc, Remembering Horowitz, featured Dubal and 125 other pianists recalling this legendary performer.
Recipient of the First ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for broadcast journalism, Mr. Dubal has won numerous other honors, including the coveted George Foster Peabody Award for innovative broadcasting. He served as Music Director of WNCN in New York City from l967-90, and was also producer and commentator for innumerable special broadcasts, including “Conversations with Horowitz.” He can currently be heard each week on Wednesday on WQXR in New York City in "Reflections from the Keyboard" and on the Internet at www.wqxr.com.
Mr. Dubal has been a faculty member of The Juilliard School since 1983, and joined the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music in 1994. He has performed in recitals and lecture-recitals in forty states, conducted master classes and lectured world-wide, and judged many international competitions, including the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

Concert pianist Mirian Conti studied in her native Buenos Aires, and continued her education on scholarship at the Juilliard School, where a scholarship honoring her has been established. She has made solo, chamber, and orchestral appearances throughout the world, and her numerous recordings highlight Mexican, Argentine, and Spanish composers as well as European classics. She has given lecture-recitals and master classes at Oberlin College, the Manhattan School of Music, and conservatories in South America, among others.

Described as an "altogether extraordinary pianist," (Newark Star-Ledger), Jed Distler is the co-founder and Music Director of Composers Collaboration, one of the most innovative and dynamic forces in new music in New York City. He has received awards from ASCAP, Meet the Composer, and the Macdowell Colony. He is a regular writer for Gramophone, International Piano Quarterly, and other magazines. A faculty member at Sarah Lawrence College, he also lectures on historical pianists.

The Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Piano Competition

The Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Piano Competition was established in 1949, on the one hundredth anniversary of the death of Fryderyk Chopin; the opening celebration took place at the Kosciuszko Foundation House, with Witold Malcuzynski as guest artist, and Abram Chasins, composer and music director of the New York Times radio stations, presiding over the special centennial program. Held annually since then, the competition is proud to number many outstanding pianists among its winners, including Van Cliburn, Murray Perahia, and Ian Hobson.

The objective of the Chopin Piano Competition is to encourage highly talented young musicians of all backgrounds, and to promote study and performance of the works of Chopin, Szymanowski, and other Polish composers. The competition is open to citizens or permanent residents of the United States, and international full time students, between the ages of 16 and 22.

Contestants prepare a program of approximately 70 minutes. The required repertoire includes works of Chopin and Szymanowski; Bach; a Classic sonata; a major 19th century work; and a work by an American, Polish-American, or Polish composer written within the last 50 years. Contestants perform from memory.

The first, second, and third prize winners are awarded scholarships in the amounts of $5,000, $2,500, and $1,500 respectively, and travel grants to New York if necessary. In addition to the financial scholarship, the first prize winner is offered additional concerts when possible.

The Jan Gorbaty Memorial Prize is given for the best performance of music of Chopin. Mr. Gorbaty was a beloved and respected teacher and performer, admired for his performance of Chopin’s works, and especially devoted to encouraging young musicians.

All events take place at the Foundation House, unless otherwise noted. Programs subject to change. Click here for directions.

Kosciuszko Foundation programs are supported by the Mary F. Koons Charitable Trust, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), the Tadeusz Solowij Literary Fund, and the KF Cultural Fund.

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Chopin Piano Competition