Biography

Stefan Łabanowski was born in Cracow, where he started his piano education. After graduating from the State High School of Music in Cracow two years in advance, under Professor Anna Szyniarowska, he continued his studies in piano performance at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice under Professor Andrzej Jasiński. He graduated from the Academy of Music in 2002, obtaining a Master degree. During 2002-2005 he completed the postgraduate studies, also under the tutelage of Professor Andrzej Jasiński. He participated in Kevin Kenner Piano Masterclasses. Stefan Łabanowski completed his doctoral program in piano performance under the supervision of Professor Bronisława Kawalla at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw in 2012, earning a Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

Stefan Łabanowski is a prizewinner of national and international piano competitions. He won 1^st prize at the National Piano Competition in Olsztyn, 2^nd prize at the National Piano Competition ,,Gdańsk Spring” in Gdańsk, 3^rd prize at the J. S. Bach National Piano Competition in Gorzów and in 1994 he won 1^st prize at the National EPTA Piano Competition in Cracow. He won 2^nd prize at the Igor Stravinsky International Piano Competition in Champaign-Urbana (USA) and in 2004 he won 1st prize and the special prize at the 3^rd International Competition ,,Citta di Guardiagrele” (Italy). He is also a finalist of the 27^th International Piano Competition "Citta di Sulmona" (Italy, 2003).

He has given concerts in Poland, USA, France, Germany and Ukraine and has also participated in music festivals, performing among others: in 1994 – at the Young Pianists Festival in Siedlce and at the 2^nd Szczecin Artistic Gala, in 2000 – at the 5^th Music Competition Winners Festival Bydgoszcz-Toruń, held at the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Pomeranian Philharmonic Hall in Bydgoszcz and in 2010 – at the 7^th International Princess Daisy Chamber Arts Festival Ensemble in Wałbrzych. He performed at the Caper Lublinensis Cultures Meeting Festival, organised by the Henryk Wieniawski Lublin Philharmonic (2011) and at the 4^th International Festival of the Wieniawski Brothers, also held at the Henryk Wieniawski Lublin Philharmonic Hall (2017).

He has recorded for Acte Préalable, which has released his three albums. The first album (AP0203, released in 2010) is the world premiere recording of piano works of Antoni Stolpe (1851-1872), an eminent Polish composer, who, due to his premature death, fell into oblivion; Antoni Stolpe’s piano works were also the subject of Stefan Łabanowski’s doctoral research in piano performance. The second album (AP0336, released in 2015) contains selected pieces of Frédéric Chopin. The third album (APV001, released in 2015) is a live DVD recording of Stefan Łabanowski’s concert in 2014 with works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann, Frédéric Chopin, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Sergei Prokofiev.

His repertoire includes works of J. S. Bach, works of classical, romantic, impressionistic and twentieth century music.

Stefan Łabanowski is also an author of three articles published by the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw: the article “From Issues of Pianist’s Practice” in the book “Practice in the Development and Activity of a Musical Performer, Theory-Research-Practice”, edited by Barbara Kamińska and Michał Zagrodzki (Warsaw, 2009), the article “Music as Art and Pre-Art” in the book “Contemporary Music and Its Identities”, edited by Tadeusz Kobierzycki (Warsaw, 2010) and the article “Antoni Stolpe – a Forgotten Composer” in the book “Now All of You Must Adjust Your Brains: 35 Looks at Music and Musicians”, edited by Magdalena Dziadek (Warsaw, 2016) – the article is based on a lecture which was delivered at the conference “The Problem of Value in Reflection on Polish Music”, organised in 2007 by the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.

Among many distinctions and scholarships he was awarded, such as: Child’s Art Foundation Scholarship, Polish Culture Foundation Scholarship, the Mayor of Gdańsk Scholarship, the Minister of Culture and Art Scholarship, particularly important is the Mayor of Cracow Award in the field of music, obtained in 1994. In 1995 he received the Kosciuszko Foundation Award (Chicago, USA). During 1992-1996, he was a holder of Polish Children’s Fund Scholarship and in 1997 he obtained the Cracow Education Award. In 2009 he was granted with the Minister of Culture and National Heritage Scholarship.

Stefan Łabanowski has a wide variety of interests. Apart from music, he is interested in other fields of art and also in scientific discoveries. He enjoys contact with nature.