Daniel Wnukowski joins MGAM in Toronto, Canada. For more details on booking procedures please see mgam.com.
Letter from Daniel Wnukowski
December 11, 2010
Welcome to my website! As a pianist, music has always been the inner-core of my life. I am deeply gratified to have a virtual home in which I can share my music, thoughts and memories but the real praise must go to the composers who have left behind their great music. I am solely the medium which allows the composer’s intentions to blossom and spring to life.
Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.
- Victor Hugo
Progetto Chopin in Ancona, Italy
November 11, 2010
I would like to cordially thank the warm public of Ancona, Italy for helping me to create a most memorable evening, the Orchestra Filharmonica Marchigiana together with its conductor Romolo Gessi for their dedication and artistry, as well as the Amici della Musica & Istituto Polacco for their organizational efforts and hard work in taking care of every minutest detail.
It was an honor for me to inaugurate the concert season in your charmingly beautiful city. The concert was extra special for me as it was my last Chopin concert scheduled for the 2010 year.
Alla Prossima!
The Story Of My Life A Readers Digest Version
September 5, 2010
Whether it be destiny, some rare astrophysical occurrence, serendipity or a just another random convergence of events…you have stumbled upon my piano music blog!
I realize there are hundreds of other things you could be doing right now and so I wish that the time you spend here be as mutually stimulating, engaging and inspiring as it has been for me.
On this page you’ll find a few words about me. Pianists’ biographies can sometimes look so formal and forbidding, so instead I’ll walk you through the most important events of my life as they occurred and leave you to find the profound ‘existential’ meaning into how they shaped me into the person I am today.
The Power Of Hypnosis For Pianists
As satisfied as I have been with the Chopin year this year, a celebration of 200 years of one of my favorite composer’s life, I now think back to a time when I had contemplated quitting piano entirely.
A concert pianist is a rare specimen, bred out of a panoply of nerves, dedication, auspicious encounters and fatigue. There are so many mood swings born out of hundreds of thousands of moods themselves, it is impossible to predict what one will feel like 2 minutes before showtime. Concert pianists could ideally just live off of pills and then leave the music-making to some higher power. How can one avenge the sanitized marketplace needs of a perfect recording, note-perfect performances and not be allowed to satisfy an ephemeral whim of spontaneous outrage and fantasy?
Leave Music Alone
July 12, 2010
So, how can we just leave music alone? A fast-paced culture together with beeping gadgets and state-of-the-art computers have created a phenomenen known as ‘music in a bottle syndrome’ which is basically ubiquitous music that you can access quickly and easily sometimes even with the push of a button. Sometimes, going to a piano recital today is like going to a butcher’s shop and asking for 2 kilograms of Rachman’ lard and 100 ml of Prokof’ vinegar. OK, I agree that Rachaminoff’s second sonata is a great piece of piano literature, but how many times do we have to hear it butchered in the same dull fashion, until it becomes so nautious that even a tired, old grub found in the corner of one’s basement seems more interesting?
An Adventurous Life
July 10, 2010
Can you remember the days when you were still in school and everyone was awaiting that last day of school? Everyone was getting frustrated and edgy about the mountainous pile of homework assisgnments, exams to study for, having to see the teacher’s face for the xxx’th time this year. But you knew that after that last day, everything would be over with.
Polish Patriotism
February 2, 2010
I am proud to be of Eastern European origin – Poland to be specific. It is exciting to know how to speak two different languages fluently and to have extra holidays in the calendar. Polish people love to make a holiday out of everything. For example, there is not only a Mother’s and Father’s day, but also a Grandfather’s, Grandmother’s, and a Ladies day! Poles like to take every opportunity they can to get away from work. There is even a names day where each first name is placed somewhere on the calendar. ‘Daniel’s day’ falls on every December 10th, so you can feel free to lavish me with gifts on that day 
Poland is also a country with a remarkable history. It has some of the most breathtaking castles (the largest is the Wawel Castle in Krakow) and theatres I have ever seen in my life. The national theatre has the deepest stage than any other theater in Europe.
Chief what
April 7, 2009
Taken from the old website. Original post date: July 9, 2005
I am often asked to repeat his name…
Cziffra – Gyorgy Cziffra.
(OK, so it’s not as easy to remember as Bond – James Bond.)
But I am very pleased to see the revival of Cziffra amongst today’s listening audience. Gyorgy Cziffra was a Hungarian composer/pianist who lived at the heart of the 20th century’s greatest virtuosi. Although he was born in 1921 to a poor family of gypsy musicians, it wasn’t until 1947 that he was able to grow his career due to military services and even being a POW. In spite of wide acclaim, he (like Horowitz at one point) abandoned his career until the early 1990s when he gave a concert in Paris.
My new piano
Taken from the old website. Original post date: June 5, 2005
Recently I purchased a new concert grand piano. I was extremely picky about finding an instrument that would match all my needs. I am one of those notorious customers that will spend hours trying a product only to say “I’ll think about it” at the end.