{"id":23415,"date":"2022-03-24T09:34:22","date_gmt":"2022-03-24T14:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/?p=23415"},"modified":"2022-03-24T09:34:22","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T14:34:22","slug":"polish-pianist-becomes-first-baylor-student-to-win-prestigious-piano-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/2022\/03\/polish-pianist-becomes-first-baylor-student-to-win-prestigious-piano-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Polish pianist becomes first Baylor student to win prestigious piano competition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-23416\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Karwowski.png\" alt=\"Cezary Karwowski at the piano\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Karwowski.png 1920w, https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Karwowski-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Karwowski-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Karwowski-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Karwowski-1536x864.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In 2019, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baylor.edu\/music\/index.php?id=952946\">Dr. Bradley Bolen<\/a> traveled from Waco to Austria to teach a masterclass and judge a piano competition. There, he met Cezary Karwowski, a talented and aspiring concert pianist. Before Bolen left, Karwowski asked if he could study under him &#8212; and of course the answer was an emphatic &#8220;yes!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Three years later, Karwowski is now finishing up his master&#8217;s in piano performance at Baylor, and he&#8217;s just become the first Baylor student to win the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mtna.org\/MTNA\/Engage\/Competitions\/Young_Artist_Performance_Competitions.aspx\">Music Teachers National Young Artist Award in Piano<\/a> &#8212; the most rigorous piano competition in the country.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This award means a lot to me, especially because of the national recognition I have received and the amount of preparation and work I put in it,&#8221; says Karwowski. &#8220;I&#8217;m very proud that I could represent Baylor, and grateful that I could become a small part of Baylor history.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Karwowski was raised in Poland and first touched a piano at the age of seven. He grew up refining his craft at various music schools, and he says he never wished he&#8217;d chosen another career path. &#8220;My life has been extremely privileged. The support of my parents, teachers and friends has truly helped me become a better artist,&#8221; he says. &#8220;I can\u2019t believe how many wonderful people I have met and the many unique experiences this journey has given me.&#8221; [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X8o81XQO9mo\">See Karwowski play below<\/a>:]<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"F. Chopin - Etude in A Minor, Op. 25 No. 11 &#039;&#039;Winterwind&#039;&#039;\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/X8o81XQO9mo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Since coming to Baylor, Karwowski has entered a few competitions, earning honorable mention in the prestigious Los Angeles International Liszt Competition and placing first in <a href=\"https:\/\/baylorlariat.com\/2022\/02\/01\/baylor-holds-annual-concerto-competition\/\">Baylor\u2019s Concerto Competition<\/a> just last month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCezary is not only an extremely talented pianist, but perhaps more importantly, a first-class human being,\u201d says Bolen. \u201cHe is a joy to teach. I&#8217;m so glad I met him on that trip to Austria.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Moving forward, Karwowski plans to complete a second degree at Baylor, an artist diploma in piano performance, and apply for a DMA program in the United States. He hopes to have a long career as a concert pianist, traveling, performing and teaching around the world.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The most rewarding part of playing piano is performing on stage and sharing my gift with other people,&#8221; says Karwowski. &#8220;After countless hours spent in the practice room, seeing people genuinely moved or inspired brings me a lot of joy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sic \u2019em, Cezary Karwowski!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2019, Dr. Bradley Bolen traveled from Waco to Austria to teach a masterclass and judge a piano competition. There, he met Cezary Karwowski, a talented and aspiring concert pianist. Before Bolen left, Karwowski asked if he could study under him &#8212; and of course the answer was an emphatic &#8220;yes!&#8221; Three years later, Karwowski [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academics","category-honors","category-student-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}