Drzewiecki Zbigniew, *8 April 1890 Warsaw, †11 April 1971 Warsaw, Polish pianist and teacher. Initially, he was taught to play the piano by his father Ludwik Drzewiecki and by Warsaw musicians: F. Konopasek, W. Oberfelt and R. Becker, and by I. Pilecki, who taught him theory and playing the violin. In 1909, he began studies at the Technical University in Vienna and then in Brno. At the same time, he studied occasionally at the Wiener Akademie für Musik under K. Prohaska (higher piano course) and also benefited from the advice of M. Aronson and P. de Conne in Vienna and H. Janocha in Brno. In 1911, he interrupted his studies at the polytechnic and settled permanently in Vienna, where in 1911–15, he took private lessons from M. Prentner. In 1915, he returned to Warsaw, and on 2 February 1916, he gave his first recital at the Warsaw Philharmonic, performing works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Chopin and Liszt. In September 1916, he became a professor of the lower, middle, and then higher piano courses at the Music Institute in Warsaw (later a conservatory). In the 1920s, while continuing his teaching work, Drzewiecki gave concerts in Poland and abroad, including: in Paris, Prague, Bucharest, Vienna, Zurich, Stockholm and Riga; he then included works by Scriabin, Debussy, Paderewski and Prokofiev in his repertoire. Already as a pianist, he perfected his piano playing at summer courses in 1928 with Paderewski in Morges. In 1930, after the reform of the Warsaw music school, he became vice-rector, and from 1931, rector of the newly established Academy of Music. After its liquidation, Drzewiecki continued to be a professor of the higher piano course at the conservatory in Warsaw. In 1930, he also travelled to Lviv and Krakow for lessons. His most outstanding students from those times included J. Bereżyński, F. Blumental, J. Ekier, R. Etkinówna, R. Jasiński, A. Kagan, B. Kon, M. Kondracki, A. Müller, S. Nadgryzowski, T. Wojtaszewska. During World War II, Drzewiecki stayed in Warsaw, participated in underground concerts and gave lessons. After the uprising, he stayed in Krakow, where in 1945 he organised the PWSM. He was the rector of this university until 1950, and a professor until 1955, while also teaching the piano class at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw. In 1955, he moved to Warsaw, still teaching at the State Higher School of Music in Krakow. He retired in 1961, but until the end of his life, he gave private lessons to the most talented students. His students in the post-war period included R. Bakst, H. Czerny-Stefańska, Fu-Tsung, L. Grychtołówna, A. Harasiewicz, W. Kisielewski, W. Maciszewski, W. Obidowicz, T. Rutkowska, R. Smendzianka. In 1962, he performed on stage for the last time during the anniversary of the National Philharmonic. Drzewiecki was the organiser and member of the jury of the International F. Chopin Piano Competitions (1927, 1932, 1937) and their chairman (1949, 1955, 1960, 1965). In 1931–39, he worked as a music publicist, writing in „Kurier Warszawski,” “Wiadomości Literackie,” “Muzyka”, “Muzyka Polska” and “Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny.” After 1945, he published articles in “Ruch Muzyczny” and prepared many piano pieces by Händel, Mozart, Scarlatti, Beethoven, Czerny, Lessel and Szymanowski in pedagogical series published by PWM. In 1934–39 and 1945–48, he was the president of the Polish section of MTMW, in 1959–66 the president of TIFC, in the years 1956–62 the president of SPAM. He was the winner of many artistic awards; in 1950 and 1952, he received the State Award of the 1st degree; in 1955 he was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. He was an honorary member of many universities, including universities in Helsinki, Tokyo and the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 1965, the National Philharmonic celebrated the 75th anniversary of Drzewiecki’s birth.
Literature: Z. Drzewiecki Wspomnienia muzyka, Kraków 1971; S. Kisielewski Zbigniew Drzewiecki, Kraków 1973; Zbigniew Drzewiecki. We wspomnieniach uczniów i przyjaciół, ed. J. Skarbowski, M. Schmyd-Dormus and J. Zathey, Kraków 1998.
