2002

Rafal Blechacz is awarded the second prize at the Arthur Rubinstein International Competition for Young Pianists in Bydgoszcz

2003

Co-winner of the International Piano Competition in Hamamatsu, Japan

2004

Wins first prize at the International Piano Competition in Morocco

2005

Awarded first prize at the 15th Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw, and three special prizes: the Polish Radio Award for “Best Performance of the Mazurkas”, the Polish Chopin Society Award for “Best Polonaise Performance” and the Warsaw Philharmonic Award for “Best Concerto Performance”. Additionally, he wins the prize founded by Krystian Zimerman for “Best Sonata Performance”

2006

Performances include Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 2 with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Warsaw and Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 1 with the Tonhalle Orchestra and with the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Recital tour of Japan. Blechacz appears to great acclaim at Poland’s Chopin Festival, Ruhr Piano Festival, Verbier and La Roque d’Anthéron; in May he signs an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon

2007

Performs Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 1 with the Russian National Orchestra led by Mikhail Pletnev on tour in Japan and Chopin’s Concertos nos. 1 and 2 with the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse on tour in Germany and in Toulouse. Recital tours of Poland, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands; further recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall (broadcast by the BBC), at the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid and in Zaragoza, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, at Vienna’s Konzerthaus, in Ferrara and in Vilnius, Lithuania. His solo debut recording of works by Chopin is very well received by the critics, reaches “platinum” status in Poland and is bestowed in 2008 with an Echo Award (“Instrumentalist of the Year”), a Diapason d’or and two Fryderyk Awards (“Solo Piano Album of the Year” and “Most Outstanding Polish Music Recording”)

2008

Concerts performing Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 1 with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonia; Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 2 with the New York Philharmonic (in New York’s Carnegie Hall) and the Berne Symphony Orchestra; Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto no. 2 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Orquestra Simfňnica de Barcelona. Recital tours of Italy, Switzerland and the USA; further recitals in Paris, Narbonne, Dortmund and Vancouver. Festival appearances at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Kalamazoo (USA), Verbier, Heidelberg and Salzburg. Blechacz’s new recording of an album devoted to the Viennese Classics – Haydn’s Sonata in E flat major, Mozart’s Sonata K. 311 and Beethoven’s Sonata op. 2 no. 2 – is released to great acclaim in the autumn and is awarded a Fryderyk as “Solo Piano Album of the Year” 2009

2009

Tour of Japan performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 4 with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under Marek Janowski and giving several solo recitals. Further concerts include the Beethoven Fourth Concerto with the Warsaw National Philharmonic and with the Orquesta de Valencia; Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto no. 2 with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and with the Orchestre national de France; Chopin’s First and Second Piano Concertos with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Solo recitals at several venues in the Netherlands, Germany and Spain, in Paris (Théâtre des Champs-Élysées) and London (Wigmore Hall). Blechacz’s eagerly awaited orchestral recording debut of Chopin’s Piano Concertos nos. 1 and 2 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Jerzy Semkow is released in the autumn and receives a Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and two Fryderyk Awards (“Album of the Year” in the category symphony/concert and “Most Outstanding Polish Music Recording”) in 2010

2010

Concerts performing Chopin’s Piano Concertos no. 1 with the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Germany and no. 2 with the Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome as well as with the Warsaw National Philharmonic, Kraków Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and Wiener Symphoniker; recital tour of Japan and of the USA, including New York’s Met Museum and Washington’s Kennedy Center; European recitals including Geneva, Zurich, Brussels, Amsterdam, Milan, Paris, the Nohant Festival and various venues in Germany and Poland. Rafal Blechacz is awarded the Premio Internazionale “Accademia Musicale Chigiana”

2011

Highlights include appearances performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 4 with the Orchestre de Paris, Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 2 with the Sinfonia Varsovia and Liszt’s Piano Concerto no. 2 with the Orchestre national de Belgique, as well as recitals in Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain and on tour in Germany, Switzerland and the USA. Recording of a new solo album with works by Debussy and Szymanowski, due for release in February 2012

2012

Plans for this year include concerts with the Orquesta Nacional de Espańa, the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 4, with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 2 and recitals in Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, the USA and at the Ruhr Piano Festival

(12/2011)