Bakst Ryszard, *4 April 1926 Warsaw, †25 March 1999 Manchester, Polish pianist. In 1932–39, he studied piano with J. Turczyński at the conservatory in Warsaw. In 1943, he graduated from the music school in Sverdlovsk (USSR), then he studied in 1944–47 at the P. Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow as a student of K. Igumnov and H. Neuhaus. After returning, he completed his piano studies with Z. Drzewiecki. In 1947, he settled in Wrocław, where he took up teaching work in secondary music education; in 1950–53, he taught at the State Higher School of Music in Wrocław, and in 1953–68, at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw. From 1969, he was a professor at the Royal Manchester College of Music, and also collaborated with the Royal Academy of Music in London; he was an honorary fellow of the Royal Northern College of Music. He made his debut as a pianist in 1947 in Warsaw. In 1949, he won the 6th prize at the 4th International F. Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. In the following years, he gave concerts in various European countries and in the USA, Canada, China, Japan and other countries in America and Asia. In 1966–68, he was the president of the Warsaw branch of SPAM. In 1960, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. In 1990, he was a juror of the 12th International F. Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
