Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń (Bulgarian: Екатерина Попова) (born 30 April 1948 in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

) is a Polish pianist of

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n descent. She studied at the

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

Music Academy, then graduated with honours from the State High School of Music (Academy of Music) in

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

, in Professor Zbigniew Sliwinski's class, in 1973. She completed her postgraduate studies in the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, in Professor Alexander Jenner's class. She was a prizewinner of the Polish Competitions: 4th Polish Festival of Young Musicians, 2nd Polish Competition of Piano Music; obtained an honorable mention at the IX International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1975, and entered the semifinals of the Piano Competition in

Terni Terni ( ; ; ) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria, in Central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera (Tiber), River Nera. It is northeast ...

, Italy, 1975, and of the ARD Piano Competition in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

in 1978. Popowa-Zydroń gave concerts in Polish philharmonic halls as well as in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. She was employed as a visiting professor at

Kitakyūshū is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fukuoka. It is one o ...

Music Academy in

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

. She was member of the jury of the 16th

International Chopin Piano Competition The International Chopin Piano Competition (), often called the Chopin Competition, is a piano competition in Warsaw, Poland, held first in 1927 and every five years since 1955. The competition is one of the founding members of the World Federa ...

and Head of Jury of the 17th Competition in 2015 and 18th Competition in 2021. She obtained an honourable mention at the 1975 Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition.

Rafał Blechacz Rafał Blechacz (; born 30 June 1985) is a Polish classical pianist who rose to fame after winning the XV International Chopin Piano Competition in 2005. Biography Blechacz began piano lessons at the age of five, and enrolled in the National ...

's teacher, Popowa-Zydroń is best known for her work as a pedagogue. She also chaired the jury of the 17th and 18th

. She has been decorated by the Medal of the

Commission of National Education The Commission of National Education (, KEN, ) was the central educational authority in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, created by the Sejm and King Stanisław August Poniatowski, Stanisław II August on October 14, 1773. Because of its ...

(2004), Silver

Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis The Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture () or Gloria Artis Medal, is a departmental decoration of Poland in arts awarded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland to persons and organizations for distinguish ...

(2005) and the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

's Officer's Cross (2005). She is a professor of piano at the Academy of Music in

and in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

References

Fryderyk Chopin Institute - Fryderyk Chopin Information Centre

Official Website

Culture.pl

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popowa-Zydron, Katarzyna Polish music educators Living people Recipients of the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta 1948 births 21st-century Polish classical pianists Polish women music educators Polish women classical pianists 21st-century Polish women pianists