Canadian concert pianist Janina Fialkowska has had a remarkable career in the world of classical music for a half century. With an international career as a performer, she has also taken on the role of nurturing the next generation of artists with masterclasses and by acting as judge in many prominent international competitions.
She’ll be performing in recital at the Elora Festival on July 26, and if you missed her in Toronto earlier this year, you’re in luck — Fialkowska will again be playing Grieg, Schumann, Ravel, and Chopin, this time in an even more intimate setting.
Here’s a look at this stellar Canadian musician.
Janina Fialkowska
Born in Montréal, Janina began studying the piano at the age of four with her mother, who had been a student of Alfred Cortot at the École Normale de Musique de Paris in the 1930s. She went on to study at the École Vincent-d’Indy, making her debut with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal at the age of 12. In 1969, she won 1st Prize in the CBC National Radio Competition for Young Performers.
After earning both her Baccalauréat and Maitrise degrees from the Université de Montréal at the age of 17, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music.
However, despite her early promise, Janina was prepared to give up performing by 1974. She had intended on competing in the first Rubinstein International Piano Competition, which was originally slated to take place in 1973. However, the Yom Kippur War put those plans aside.
By the time the competition had been rescheduled for the following year in 1974, Janina had already enrolled at law school in Montréal. She’d be missing the first few days if she attended, and she hesitated, however, the CBC, who was backing her, encouraged her to go anyway.
It would be a career defining decision.
Fialkowska took home the joint third prize medal together with Austrian Seta Tanyel; (Emanuel Ax took home the gold). More importantly, however, Rubinstein himself, who led the jury, was impressed with her playing, and became a mentor. He called her a “born Chopin interpreter”.
Janina talks about her influences in a 2013 interview.
“The biggest influence, however, was Arthur Rubinstein… He was my idol since I first heard him when I was 12, and I was fortunate enough to have become his last pupil and close friend during the last seven years of his wonderful life.”
The prize win launched a professional career that has taken her all over the world to perform. Career highlights include, in 1990, being chosen to perform the world premiere of the then recently discovered Piano Concerto No. 3 by Franz Liszt with the Chicago Symphony.
Along with an international career and accolades came some significant challenges. In 2002, she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of tumour in her upper left arm. It led to surgery, first to remove the malignant tumour, then to reconstruct her arm. For about 18 months, she gave concerts throughout North America and Europe, performing only with her right hand. She’d taken Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand and Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto no. 4, also written for the left hand, and rearranged them for her right.
By 2004, however, she was back to performing with both hands, and resumed an active touring career.
She has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada, and received the Governor General’s 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award in Classical Music, as well as three honorary doctorates.
The Elora Festival
The Elora Festival launched on July 11, and continues with a plethora of programming, along with the Fialkowska recital.
Highlights include:
- Chanticleer: Without a Song on July 16;
- The Elora Singers at Twilight with violinist, Bénédicte Lauzière on July 17
- Kaleidoscope featuring Autorickshaw, Penderecki String Quartet, and The Elora Singers on July 18;
- Soprano and pianist Rachel Fenlon performing Winterreise on July 19;
- The Elora Singers & Junges Vokalensemble Hannover presenting a wide range of choral
masterpieces on July 19; - Paul Cohen, saxophonist, and Andrew Henderson, organist, presenting Of Light and Solace on July 20;
- An immersive concert experience at the Fieldstone Barn with Wrapped in Love, two shows on July 23;
- Music in the Woods with The Elora Singers on July 24;
- The Gesualdo Six in a choral program on July 24;
- Unplugged with The Elora Singers on July 25;
- Klezmer and Yiddish music group Schmaltz & Pepper on July 26;
- Festival Finale: Heroic Handel, featuring a wide range of compositions from G. F. Handel with soprano, Myriam Leblanc on July 26;
- The annual Elora Festival Barn Dance with the Barrel Boys on July 27.
Find tickets for Janina Fialkowska on July 26 and other Elora Festival events [HERE].
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