Mateusz Borowiak
“A stunning display of profound musicality and musical profundity took place in the first of Mateusz Borowiak’s epic three-recital series at Merkin Concert Hall, the venue of his US debut. When I first saw advance notice of the series, presenting the complete piano sonatas of American composer Louis Pelosi, two per recital, coupled with three of the major etude cycles—all twenty- four Chopin, all twelve Debussy, and Rachmaninoff’s Etudes-Tableaux, Op. 39, I thought “This guy is either a foolhardy daredevil, or one of the great pianists.” After this first recital, I’m inclining to the latter.” Merkin Hall, New York Concert Review Inc., 2017
Mateusz Borowiak, born in London to a family of musicians, spent his formative years studying piano and composition at the Junior Guildhall and Music at the University of Cambridge. Only in his early twenties did he begin studying piano full-time with Professor Andrzej Jasiński at the Academy of Music in Katowice. Despite this multifaceted education he has been very active on the performing scene, playing recitals and concertos as soloist at top venues such as Barbican Hall, Palais des Beaux Arts (Brussels), Salle Cortot (Paris), Gasteig (Munich), Wigmore Hall, Philharmonic Hall (St Petersburg), L’Auditori (Barcelona), Auditorio Nacional de Musica (Madrid), Liszt Hall (Budapest), Paul Klee Centre (Bern), Sejong Arts Center (Seoul), Merkin Hall (New York), National Centre for Performing Arts (Beijing) and Shanghai Symphony Hall; at festivals including St Petersburg International Winter Festival Arts Square, Cambridge 800th Festival, Rubinstein Piano Festival, Klassiek Leeft Meesterlijk Festival in Knokke-Heist, International Chopin Festival in Duszniki, Polish Pianist Festivals in Słupsk and the Royal Cracow Piano Festival, as well as in Austria, Czechia, Latvia, Slovakia, Turkey and Ukraine.
After some early competition successes he was awarded top prizes at international piano competitions including Queen Elisabeth (Brussels), Gawon International Music Society (Seoul), Maria Canals (Barcelona), Rina Sala Gallo (Monza), Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe, the Royal Over-Seas League (London), as well as the Harriet Cohen Memorial Award (London).
Orchestras and ensembles he has performed with include Royal Philharmonic, St Petersburg Philharmonic, London Mozart Players, National Orchestra of Belgium, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Casco Phil, Madrid Symphony Orchestra and Silesian String Quartet. Conductors he has worked with include Marin Alsop, Andrey Boreyko, Edo de Waart, Hans Graf, Alan Buribayev, Michał Klauza, Joseph Swensen, Tadeusz Strugała, Aleksander Liebreich, Benjamin Haemhouts, Günter Neuhold, Massimiliano Caldi and Eivind Aadland.
His concerts were broadcast on television and radio throughout Europe, Oceania and North America, on stations including BBC Radio 3, TV5, RAI, RTBF and France Musique. CD releases include Louis Pelosi’s Thirteen Preludes and Fugues (KASP Records New York), ‘Mateusz Borowiak Live at the Queen Elisabeth Competition 2013’ (BNP PARIBAS) and 15 Keyboard Sonatas by Antonio Soler (NAXOS), released in 2014 to wide critical acclaim.
He has given masterclasses at Shanghai Music Academy, Nanning Arts Institute, Girton College Cambridge and Junior Guildhall, and is currently assistant professor at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice (Poland).
