Magdalena Adamek
ProfessionalMembership
Pianist Magdalena Adamek holds a Master of Arts in Piano Performance from the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland, and a Doctor of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Alberta, Canada. She has developed a multifaceted career as a soloist and chamber musician, alongside her work as a teacher, recording artist, and adjudicator at various competitions and music festivals in Canada an the US.
Magdalena currently serves as full-time piano faculty and Coordinator of Keyboard Studies in the Department of Music at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her teaching encompasses applied piano, chamber music, and piano ensembles, and includes collaborations with faculty and guest artists on a wide range of stylistically and culturally diverse projects.
A versatile and expressive performer, she is equally at home on the recital stage and in chamber settings. She has appeared in concerts throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, including performances in Poland, Germany, Austria, Lithuania, France, China, the United States, and Canada. Her repertoire spans a broad spectrum of styles, with a particular affinity for Polish composers. In addition to her performing career, she often presents masterclasses and lectures on piano technique, performance psychology, and musical interpretation. She is the author of several articles on Feliks Nowowiejski and Tadeusz Kościuszko, as well as the book The Unknown Face of Feliks Nowowiejski (VDM Verlag Dr. Mueller, 2008), a comprehensive study of the composer’s solo piano works.
Her discography includes five CDs on the Polish label Acte Préalable, featuring world premiere recordings of works by composers such as Feliks Nowowiejski, Romuald Twardowski, and Józef Elsner. Her most recent recording, Spanish Meditations and Dances for Euphonium and Piano by American composer Gregory Fritze, with euphoniumist Robert Powers (formerly of the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own”), was released worldwide in summer 2025 on the Mark Masters label. Available on major platforms including Apple Music Classical and Spotify, the project has led to performances at the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference in Valencia, Spain, as well as further acclaimed recitals with leading international artists.
Among her honors are 2nd prize and a special distinction for the best performance of a work by Fryderyk Chopin at the International Milosz Magin Piano Competition in Paris; 3rd prize in the piano trio category at the Kiejstut Bacewicz International Chamber Music Competition in Łódź, Poland; 3rd prize at the National Piano Competition in Warsaw; and a distinction at the National Chamber Music Competition in Warsaw. She also represented Poland at the II European Piano Forum at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin. Additional awards include the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship, Dissertation Fellowship, Mary Louise Imrie Graduate Award, FS Chia PhD Scholarship, Beryl Barns Memorial Graduate Scholarship, Harriet Snowball Winspear Graduate Prize in Performing Arts, the Marek Jabłoński Piano Scholarship at the Banff International Keyboard Festival, and scholarships from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (awarded twice).
Her artistic work has been supported by numerous institutions, including the Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies at the University of Alberta, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Polonia Foundation of Alberta, the Polish Culture Society of Edmonton, the Polish Federation of Women in Edmonton, the Polish Combatants Society of Edmonton, the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Vancouver, the Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association, the Richmond Music Teachers Association, and the Kościuszko Foundation in Washington, DC.
Magdalena currently serves as full-time piano faculty and Coordinator of Keyboard Studies in the Department of Music at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her teaching encompasses applied piano, chamber music, and piano ensembles, and includes collaborations with faculty and guest artists on a wide range of stylistically and culturally diverse projects.
A versatile and expressive performer, she is equally at home on the recital stage and in chamber settings. She has appeared in concerts throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, including performances in Poland, Germany, Austria, Lithuania, France, China, the United States, and Canada. Her repertoire spans a broad spectrum of styles, with a particular affinity for Polish composers. In addition to her performing career, she often presents masterclasses and lectures on piano technique, performance psychology, and musical interpretation. She is the author of several articles on Feliks Nowowiejski and Tadeusz Kościuszko, as well as the book The Unknown Face of Feliks Nowowiejski (VDM Verlag Dr. Mueller, 2008), a comprehensive study of the composer’s solo piano works.
Her discography includes five CDs on the Polish label Acte Préalable, featuring world premiere recordings of works by composers such as Feliks Nowowiejski, Romuald Twardowski, and Józef Elsner. Her most recent recording, Spanish Meditations and Dances for Euphonium and Piano by American composer Gregory Fritze, with euphoniumist Robert Powers (formerly of the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own”), was released worldwide in summer 2025 on the Mark Masters label. Available on major platforms including Apple Music Classical and Spotify, the project has led to performances at the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference in Valencia, Spain, as well as further acclaimed recitals with leading international artists.
Among her honors are 2nd prize and a special distinction for the best performance of a work by Fryderyk Chopin at the International Milosz Magin Piano Competition in Paris; 3rd prize in the piano trio category at the Kiejstut Bacewicz International Chamber Music Competition in Łódź, Poland; 3rd prize at the National Piano Competition in Warsaw; and a distinction at the National Chamber Music Competition in Warsaw. She also represented Poland at the II European Piano Forum at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin. Additional awards include the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship, Dissertation Fellowship, Mary Louise Imrie Graduate Award, FS Chia PhD Scholarship, Beryl Barns Memorial Graduate Scholarship, Harriet Snowball Winspear Graduate Prize in Performing Arts, the Marek Jabłoński Piano Scholarship at the Banff International Keyboard Festival, and scholarships from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (awarded twice).
Her artistic work has been supported by numerous institutions, including the Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies at the University of Alberta, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Polonia Foundation of Alberta, the Polish Culture Society of Edmonton, the Polish Federation of Women in Edmonton, the Polish Combatants Society of Edmonton, the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Vancouver, the Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association, the Richmond Music Teachers Association, and the Kościuszko Foundation in Washington, DC.
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