Long Biography
Biography | Long Biography
:: Concert Experience
Polish-Canadian pianist Daniel Wnukowski is one of the leading young pianists of his generation and regularly performs throughout Europe, North America and South America in many prestigious concert halls. Among these the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, Poland, the Concertgebouw Music Hall in Amsterdam, Holland, the Salle Pleyel in Paris, France, and the Barbican in London, UK. He has performed with the Polish Radio Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Windsor Symphony, Southfield Symphony, Jewish Community Orchestra, Celebrity Symphony Orchestra, Lodz Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, and has also been very active as a chamber musician and vocal accompanist.
Due to Wnukowski’s special affinity for Frédéric Chopin and other important Polish composers, he has actively performed in numerous International Festivals such as Chopin in Autumn Colours in Antonin (Poland), Chopinana in Buenos Aires, Pre-LSO Concert Series in London, Coppet Festival in Geneva, Euromusica Masterconcert Series und Uto Ughi Festival in Rome. He has also performed in Chopin societies across the world in cities such as Paris, Rome, Vienna, Basel, Toronto, Tokyo, New York, Detroit, Warsaw, Singapour, Duszniki Zdrój and Buenos Aires where he is continuously re-engaged.
During 2010, Wnukowski is already scheduled to appear in concerts accross Asia, South America, North America and Europe including the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy and the Chopiniania Festival in Buenos Aires. In October, he will perform the Schumann concerto with the Poznań Philharmonic under the direction of Jerzy Maksymiuk.
The 2010 year will culminate in December with a debut in the prestigious "Annual Showcase Series" of the Wigmore Hall in London, UK.
:: Important Events
In May 2010, Daniel Wnukowski performed a special recital in Tokyo, Japan to commemorate the unveiling of a new Chopin monument in that city. This also led to a debut in Singapore, where he accompanied a traditional Chinese violin, an Erhu, in the hall of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra. His outdoor concert at the Singapore Botanic Gardens entitled "Chopin by the Lake", received rousing ovations by a crowd of close to 3000 people. He also received a distinguished award from the Canada Council for the Arts for helping to promote the works of Polish composer Karol Szymanowski.
Daniel Wnukowski is equally renowned as an accompanist. In 2010, he was chosen as a Samling Scholar which culminated in a recital together with other Samling Scholars and Leaders including Angelika Kirschlager, Patricia MacMahon and Malcolm Martineau.
In the beginning of 2010, Daniel Wnukowski inaugurated the Chopin year in Poznań, Poland together with Metropolitan Opera Soprano Aleksandra Kurzak. In 2009, he inaugurated many important Chopin festivals around the world including the "Chopin in Autumn Colors" Festival, the 5th oldest International Chopin festival in the world in Antonin, Poland. That same year, he accompanied three singers at the Barbican in London, UK in an evening of songs by Richard Strauss and took part in Iain Burnside's project entitled "Lads in Their Hundreds" at King's Place, also in London.
In 2007, he performed Brahms 2nd piano concerto and Mozart’s KV595 with the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, Poland which was broadcast on Polish radio stations under the direction of Tomasz Bugaj. In 2001, his all-Chopin recital was recorded live by Radio-Canada in Ottawa for broadcast on Radio-Canada French radio stations.
At age 14, he performed at the Polish Embassy for government diplomats and officials in Ottawa, Canada, becoming the youngest pianist to ever perform at the Embassy. In 1997, in remembrance of the outbreak of World War II, he performed a recital at the National Theatre in Warsaw, Poland in front of an audience of over 2,000 people, which was broadcasted internationally on European television.
As a teen, critics singled him out for his idiomatic and compelling readings of Chopin’s music at the XIV Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw. He was also the winner of the National Chopin Piano Competition in Poland, for which he was awarded a government grant and many concerts throughout Europe.
:: Background and Education
Born in Canada, Daniel Wnukowski was born with a natural talent and a musical destiny to fulfill. At age 3 and a half, he showed strong fascination for a grand piano made completely out of glass in a music store and begged his parents to begin taking piano lessons.
In 2006, Wnukowski was one of 7 students out of a pool of 500 applications of pianists to be accepted into the Lake Como International Piano Academy in Italy directed by Martha Argerich and William Grant Naboré. In 2003, he completed his studies at the Peabody Institute of Baltimore under the guidance of Leon Fleisher and took part in a special project devoted to the performance and study of the complete piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven. He also studied at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland during the years of 1997-2000 in which he had studied and performed the complete piano works of Frédéric Chopin among other works.
:: Charitable Causes
Daniel Wnukowski is currently active in promoting various charitable organizations and often participates in benefit concerts. He is also an active member of the Staniszewski Foundation in Canada which has raised over $210,000 for local and national charities since its inception in 2005.
*This is the most current biography available. Please destroy all past biographical material.
