Szymonowicz, Zbigniew (EN)

Szymonowicz Zbigniew, *3 February 1922 Lviv, †10 September 1999 Łódź, Polish pianist, composer and teacher. In 1927–39, he studied piano with J. Dwernicka, and in 1932–39 composition with J. Freiheiter. He studied in 1940–41 at the conservatory in Lviv under the supervision of J. Freiheiter, J. Marmor (piano) and J. Koffler (instrumentation), from 1945 at the State Higher School of Music in Łódź with S. Szpinalski (piano, diploma in 1946) and K. Sikorski (composition, did not finish). In 1947, he made his debut with the Łódź Philharmonic Orchestra (Tchaikovsky’s Concerto in B-flat minor) and in a recital (pieces by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Ravel, Szymanowski, Prokofiev). In 1949, he received the 8^th prize at the 4^th International F. Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. He gave concerts in many European countries and in China (1952). From 1956, he taught the piano class at the State Higher School of Music in Łódź (head of the piano department in 1964–81, professor from 1983). In 1975, he received the Knight’s Cross, and in 1984 the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.