February 6, 2020 /thursday/ 18.30 hours Hall “M-Ro G.Atanasov”
Conductor: Christo Pavlov
Soloist: Francesco Mariozzi – cello (Italy)
Louis J. Walters
Program:
Louis J. Walters – Tchaikovsky Construct (Premiere)
Pyotr Tchaikovsky – Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 33
Franz Schubert – Symphony No.3 in D-
∗∗∗
Christo Pavlov
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hristo Pavlov is a lecturer at the National Academy of Music “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov ” in Symphonic Orchestration and Organology. He teaches symphonic orchestration, conducting and studio production at the “European Academy of Fine Arts” at the Irish-American University – a Master’s Programme in Film and Media Composition. He is a guest lecturer at the South-West University” Neofit Rilski”, Blagoevgrad. He is a regular guest conductor of the Vratsa Symfonietta since 2012 and of the Sofia Sinfonietta since 2014. He has conducted numerous orchestras, among which are: the Czech Philharmonic, the Dublin Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra and Choir of the Bulgarian National Radio, the Orchestra, Choir and soloists of the State Music Theatre, the Choir and Orchestra of the Varna Opera, the Symphony Orchestra of Pazardzhik, the Youth Orchestra of the Classic FM Radio, and more.
He is a prize-winner as a flutist, composer and conductor at national and international competitions.
From the end of 1990 to 2014, he worked as a soloist flutist at the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio. He has been conducting since 1993. Since 2012, he has been combining a full-time teaching career with an active conducting career.
He has made records as a performer, composer, arranger, conductor, and music producer for Bulgarian and foreign record companies, radio- and TV shows, as well as over 100 world and Bulgarian premieres of concert works created by authors of various nationalities.
He is also a composer, orchestrator and arranger of theatre, film, chamber, symphonic, electronic and pop music. He has also participated, both as a performer and as a conductor and arranger, in a variety of pop, jazz and rock music events.
For the period from 1993 till now, he has been the manager of hundreds of concert events and recording sessions of Bulgarian and foreign performers, ensembles and orchestras, realized for the needs of more than 20 record, film and concert management companies, as well as various stage and multimedia productions from Bulgaria, Europe, the USA, Mexico, China, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia. Since 1997 he has been active in music management, working with partners from 4 continents – Europe, Asia, North and South America.
Francesco Mariozzi
Graduated in cello with honors at the “N. Piccinni” Conservatory of Bari under the guidance of Maestro N. Sarpe, continued his studies at the Hochschüle fur Musik in Würzburg, obtaining the Meisterklassendiplom with Maestro Xenia Jankovic, J. Metzger; he has perfected himself with prestigious artists such as Maisky, Gutman, Geringas, Perènyi, Meunieur, Palm, as well as at important academies such as “Stauffer” in Cremona, University of Mainz, the Accademia Chigiana di Siena, Hochschüle in Vienna.
From 2007 to 2012 he was first cello at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, he was often guest as first guest cello at the Teatro S. Carlo in Naples, the Sicilian Symphony Orchestra, the Teatro Regio di Parma and the Rome Symphony Orchestra of Lazio. He has collaborated with other important orchestras, such as Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome and the prestigious “Arturo Toscanini” Philarmonic Orchestra, conducted by Maazel,pretre, Temirkanov, Rostropovich, Imbal, in which he played the role of first cello.
He is a guest, both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, of prestigious musical institutions such as the Società del Quartetto of Florence, the Festival dei Due Mondi of Spoleto, the Institut Culturel Italien de Montreal, the Fiesole Musical Meetings, the Festival delle Nazioni di Portogruaro , the Pomposa Festival, the Umbra Filarmonica Association, as a composer and player of the music for the project “FestiValdera”, organized by Fondazione Peccioliper and Fondazione Teatro della Toscana, often in duo with the pianist Bruno Canino.
Lately he has played in the prestigious, Stern Hall of the CARNEGY HALL in NY, with the execution of Beethoven’s difficult triple. Soon he will be in Vienna, in the famous NOVOMATIC Hall, where he performs the Concerto for Cello and orchestra in Re M by J. Haydn
He is artistic director of the Festival of Medieval Cities (Rome and Lazio). He also made several recordings for Vatican Radio.
Louis J. Walters
Louis J Walters is an average office worker by day who escapes into an audio world by night. He was an aspiring astronaut, designer and architect since early childhood drawings and composing since the age of 14. Elected as one of the few Africans in the initial rounds of the Mars space project, university graduate in music and English literature, but never able to transform those aspirations into a career.
Studied composition under Stefans Grové, who studied under Aaron Copland and Walter Piston, and graduated in music theory, orchestration and composition at the University of Pretoria South Africa in 1997. Later awarded a bursary from the South African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) and the Chancellor’s Trust Prize from Northwest University (née University of Potchefstroom) continued a passion for composition independently from livelihood into the 2000s.
Today, sculpting a career in brand management and digital marketing with an international investment management company and keeping musical interests up in local communities as a hobby. His daily endeavours are always only a sunset away from a new melody, a new symphonic idea or a new arrangement of note patterns, sounds and emotions.
Other parts of his persona include studying languages (English, French and isiZulu) and running a private business in marketing consulting that does design work, website building and digital marketing for small, medium and micro enterprises.
* * *
GRIGOR PALIKAROV
February 13, 2020 /thursday/ 18.30 hours Hall “M-Ro G.Atanasov”
Conductor: GRIGOR PALIKAROV
Soloist: MELANI MESTRE – piano /Spein/
Program:
Johannes Brahms – Tragic Overture
Joachim Malats – Piano and Orchestra Concert, 1st Hour (World Premiere)
Sergei Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
∗∗∗
GRIGOR PALIKAROV
Grigor Palikarov (born in 1971 in Plovdiv) graduated the National School of Music and Dance Art “Dobrin Petkov” – Plovdiv with the specialty of piano with excellent grades and golden badge award in 1990 and then he graduated the Music Academy “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” in Sofia with Master’s degrees in four majors: Opera and Symphony Conducting under Acad. V. Kazandzhiev and Prov. Iv. Vulpe; Composition under Prof. D. Tapkov, Piano – under Prof. Kr. Taskov and Choir Conducting under Prof. St. Kralev. He specialized in Composition within two summer courses in Austria with Prof. Erich Urbaner from Vienna University of Musical and Performing Arts.
His debut at the opera stage was when he was still a student (at the age of 22) and conducted Rigoletto in the opera theatres in Pleven and Stara Zagora.
His professional career as a conductor began in the Symphonic Orchestra of the Bulgarian Army Ensemble (1995 – 1997) and from 1997 to 1999 he was Chief Conductor of the Ensemble. In the meantime, he also took the position of conductor and chief artistic director of the renowned Youth Philharmonic “Pioneer” (1998 – 2003). His debut at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre – Sofia was in 1998 when he conducted a Gala Concerto of Gena Dimitrova by her personal request. Since 2001 he was appointed fulltime conductor of the opera and currently his repertoire includes more than 55 opera and ballet works. Since season 2005-2006 Grigor Palikarov is also the Chief Artistic Director and Conductor of the Symphonic-Opera Society at the National Music Academy “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” – Sofia.
At present, Grigor Palikarov is a frequent visiting conductor of a number of orchestras and opera theatres among which are: Symphonic Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio, Classic FM Orchestra – Sofia, of which he is also a permanent conductor since season 2008-2009, Sofia Philharmonic, Festival Orchestra – Sofia, the national Operas in Plovdiv, Burgas, Varna, Ruse and Stara Zagora, the Pleven Philharmonic, etc. A special place among his multiple conducting performances is occupied by the numerous studio records of various works with the Symphonic Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio, along with his participations in prestigious national and international music festivals such as Sofia Music Weeks, March Music Days, Laureate Days “Katya Popova” – Pleven, Austrian Music Weeks, New Bulgarian Music, Winter Music Evenings – Pazardzhik, Opera and Ballet Festival – Varna, Contemporary Music Festival – Pula, Croatia, May Opera Nights – Skopje, Macedonia, Dyuni Festival – Matera, Italy, etc. In October 2014, Grigor Palikarov had two concertos with the orchestra of Classic FM Radio at the prestigious Alte Oper (Frankfurt am Mein) from the programme of the festival of European Culture Days organized by the European Central Bank.
Grigor Palikarov regularly performs abroad in countries like Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxemburg, Russia, the USA, Slovenia, Greece, Poland, the Ukraine, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Portugal, Mexico, Korea, Japan, Uruguay, etc. He has conducted the Royal Belgian Philharmonic – Brussels, the national Opera and Ballet – Ljubljana, Vienna Chamber Ensemble “New Tone”, Century Symphonic Orchestra – Taipei, Cleveland Opera – the USA where his debut was marked as one of the most important music events for 2009 in the state of Ohio, the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet – Russia, Yanacek Philharmonic – Czech Republic, Czestohowa Philharmonic and Varmino-Masuric Philharmonic – Poland, Symphonic Orchestra – Bari, national Orchestra (SODRE) and the National Choir of Uruguay, Magna Grecia Orchestra – Italy, Dnepropetrovsk Philharmonic, Yucatan Symphonic Orchestra and Monterey Symphonic Orchestra – Mexico, Thessaloniki Symphonic Orchestra, and many others.
Along with his activity as a conductor, Grigor Palikarov composes, performs in concerto playing the piano and teaches at the National Music Academy “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” where he successfully pursued his Ph.D. degree in Music Studies and Music Art in 2017. Some of his works are being performed at a number of festivals and have been recorded many times. He has won many national and international awards for his successful performance as a composer and pianist at the competitions “Svetosalv Obretenov”, “Albert Roussel”, The Music of the Earth, etc. Three-time laureate of the prestigious award Crystal Lyre of the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers – 2002, 2012, and 2017, as well as of the ward the Golden Feather.
Within two mandates, Grigor Palikarov has been the Chair of Mensa-Bulgaria – the branch of the worldwide organization of people with high IQ.
MELANI MESTRE
PIANIST & CONDUCTOR
Hailed by international critics as “A truly virtuoso musician of the world elite” (“The Daily Telegraph” – 1997, London / “Ziua” – 1998, Bucharest), since debuting with the Dortmund Festival Orchestra in 1998, performing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2, Melani Mestre has risen to become one of the most internationally acclaimed pianists and conductors of his generation.
Under the seasoned tutelage of José A. Calvo and Alicia de Larrocha, themselves disciples of Frank Marshall, Melani directly inherited the cherished Catalan Piano Tradition of Enrique Granados.
Successfully combining the role of both pianist and conductor, Melani Mestre’s collaborations are a catalogue of over 40 of the world leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, London Festival Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Wiener Kammerochester, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Gdansk Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Rumanian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Bulgarian National Symphony Orchestra, Kazan Philharmonic Orchestra, Iasi Philharmonic Orchestra, Pilsen Radio Symphony Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Mexico State Symphony Orchestra, Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, Bari Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Netanya Kibbutz Orchestra, among others.
Melani’s performance tours have taken him throughout Europe and across the Atlantic, along the way performing in the greatest concert halls of Spain (Palau de la Música de Barcelona, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, Auditorio de Barcelona, Auditorio Manuel de Falla, Auditorio de Zaragoza, Fundación Juan March, etc.), France (Sala Gaveau, Sala Pleyel), England (Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, Barbican), Germany (Konzerthaus Dortmund, Gasteig Philharmonie, Beethovenhalle), Austria (Brahmssaal, Konzerthaus Wien), Holland, Belgium (Palais des Beaux Arts), Romania (Ateneul Roman, Radio Hall, Constanta National Opera House, Iasi Philharmonic Hall, Sala Palatului), Hungary (Palace of Arts – Bartok National Hall), Bulgaria (Sofia Concert Hall, Varna Philharmonic, Plovdiv Philharmonic), The Czech Republic (Smetana Hall), Slovakia, Greece (Megaron), Portugal (Fundaçao Gulbekian), Poland (Warsaw National Philharmonic Hall, Gdansk Baltic Philharmonic Hall), Russia (Moscow State Conservatory Concert Hall, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Kazan Concert Hall), Ukraine (Lviv Opera House, Lviv Philharmonic Hall, Kiev National Philharmonic Hall), the U.S.A (New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Weill Recital Hall, Avery Fischer Hall, Meymandi Concert Hall), Cuba (Auditorio Amadeo Roldán, Auditorio de San Francisco de Asís), Brazil (National Auditorium – Theater “Claudio Santoro” of Brasilia, Teatro Bradesco of Bello Horizonte). Israel (Herzliya Auditorium, Israel Philharmonic Hall) y México (CENART, Centro Cultural Roberto Cantoral, Sala Felipe Villanueva, Centro Cultural Jilotepec).
Among Melani’s musical projects, highlights include his revelational discovery in 2009 of previously unpublished and unfinished manuscripts of Enrique Granados’ Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. Subsequently edited and completed by Melani Mestre, the work was premiered worldwide by himself, accompanied by the Lviv Symphony Orchestra, at the Lviv Philharmonic Concert Hall, Ukraine in 2010 – the same year the work was published by the Editorial Boileau Publishing House, Barcelona.
Recently Melani Mestre also completed the landmark first-ever recording of the concerto, accompanied by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under the baton of maestro Martyn Brabbins for the British record label, Hyperion Records. This project also included another worldwide first recording of Isaac Albéniz’ Rapsodia Española op.70 in its original version, orchestrated by Albéniz, which, along with the Concierto Fantástico op.78 was also discovered by Melani.
Future recording projects include more than 10 Romantic Concertos for piano and orchestra by Spanish composers – fruits of his tireless labour for the instauration of Spanish classical musical heritage, among them Joaquim Malats Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A Minor, discovered and orchestrated by Melani and recently edited for the first time along with his complete works in 6 volumes (during Joaquim Malats’ Centenary year), Manuel de Falla Noches en los jardines de España, and Joaquim Cassadó Fantasia Hispania.
Commanding a vast repertoire of more than 100 concertos for piano and orchestra by Spanish composers (Granados, Malats, Albéniz, Blancafort, Falla, Cassadó, J. Gómez, E. Serrano, Molleda, etc), Ukrainian composers (Kosenko, Lyudkyevich, Bilash, Barvinsky) and others including Ástor Piazzolla, Xaver Scharwenka, Nikolai Medtner and Ignaz Paderewsky), Melani tenaciously champions the little known and oft neglected hidden treasures of Spanish and International Classical Music repertoire, showcasing them in his performances as a solo pianist, in Chamber Music, and as an orchestral conductor.
Other treasures brought to light by Melani Mestre’s mermerising musicological mission include Ástor Piazzolla Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (PICAP – Orquestra de la Societat de Concerts de Barcelona – 2002), Manuel Blancafort Concerto for Piano and Orchestra N.2 (Hispania Música – Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra – 2008), Joaquin Nin-Culmell Concerto for violin and orchestra (Columna Música – Kazan Philharmonic Orchestra – Svetlana Tovstukha, Cello – 2001), a recording entitled “En un saló Catalá” (La Ma de Guido – 2003), a collection of unedited Catalan piano pieces from the 19th century, the world premiere of the Complete Sonatas for Keyboard by the Catalan monk composer Manuel Espona (Hispania Musica – 2014) and the world premiere of Manuel Narro, Marianne Martinez and José Palomino Piano Concertos (Hispania Musica – Orquesta Filarmonía Ibérica – 2014).
Since joining them in 2007, Melani has excelled in his role as Chief Conductor of the Lviv Symphony Orchestra (Ukraine), touring extensively with the orchestra across Spain, Greece, the Czech Republic, Russia, and Slovakia. Since 2008, Melani has also held the position of Artistic Director of the International Lviv Summer Music Festival, “Improvizacia”, working alongside world-class soloists including Andrei Gavrilov (with the complete works for piano and orchestra by Beethoven) and Woitjek Mrozek.
Melani Mestre’s extensive list of collaborations also includes other world-class artists such as Ivry Gitlis, Ruggiero Ricci, Vanessa Benelli, Martha Argerich, Lorin Maazel, Roby Lakato, Giora Feidman, Valentin Georghiu, and Al di Meola. Melani has also received coaching from eminent performers and educators including Rosa Mª Kucharsky, Monique Deschaussées, Leonid Brumberg, Aquiles Delle Vigne, Philip Fowke, Joanna McGregor, Carmen Bravo de Mompou, Joseph Banowetz, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Diego Mason, Ricardo Muti and Andrei Gavrilov, the latter giving regular coaching and quickly becoming Melani’s close mentor.
At the age of only 25, Melani won a professorship at the Piano Chair of Escuela Superior de Música de Cataluña (ESMUC), and since then has been touring the globe giving master classes, inspirational speeches and presentations at schools and leading academic institutions around the world, all the while combining his concert activities with teaching, musicological research, and music publishing in collaboration with the prestigious, and world renowned publishing house, Editorial Boileau of Barcelona, for which he is currently editing and restoring – for the first time – the complete orchestral works of Enrique Granados, Isaac Albéniz, Joaquim Cassadó and Julio Gómez, among others.
Since 1995 Melani has been half of the Duo Cantabile duet with Russian Cellist Svetlana Tovstukha, the ensemble developing a unique and sublime expressiveness and richness of sound over their more than 15 years together.
Since 2008 he has also formed part of Duo Leopolis with the Ukrainian violinist Nataliya Borysyuk, and the “Granados Piano Trio” ensemble.
In 2001 he started the Orquesta de la Sociedad de Conciertos de Barcelona, with numerous performances culminating in the revival of Ástor Piazzolla’s Ópera-Tango “María de Buenos Aires”, rereleased in its orchestral form after having been completely rescored from a transcription of actual recordings made by Piazzolla and in the absence of the original score.
Within his capacity as a composer, Melani’s portfolio contains impressive works spanning opera, chamber music, instrument solos, concertos, film scores, outstanding among which are the recent “Hollywood Concerto”, for violin and orchestra (to be premiered by Joshua Bell on 2019), “Concertango”, for piano and orchestra (premiered on 2014 at the Palau de la Música, Barcelona), the “Violintango Concerto” (concerto for violin and orchestra premiered in 2010, Ed. Boileau), “Suite Exotique” (Ed. Boileau), for Cello solo, “Festive Overture, on folk Ukrainian themes” (premiered at the 3rd Improvizacia festival with Lviv Symphony), “Catalan Overutre: El bosque de las hadas” (premiered by the Gdansk Baltic Philharmonic in 2007) and the opera “Don Juan, príncipe de las tinieblas”, premiered in Barcelona in 2005 with a libretto by Josep Palau i Fabra.
Melani studied at the Conservatorio Superior Municipal de Música de Barcelona, continuing in London with the acclaimed Russian pedagogue Sulamita Aronovsky (piano) and Sir Colin Davis (orchestral conducting).
Melani Mestre has won n impressive array of medals, prizes and honours in competitions, including First Prize and Gold Medal in the “Arrau International Piano Competition” (USA), first prize in the BBC’s TWIMCA (UK), The “Robert Lanoir” award (Lille, France) and the “Lasmo Staffa Award” (UK).
Recently, Melani Mestre has been appointed Chief Conductor of the Orquesta Filarmonía Ibérica, one of the most exciting Spanish orchestras nowadays, while being invited as guest conductor at some of the most distinguished orchestras around the world.
Since 2014 Melani is being Director of the Barcelona International Music Academy – AIMB – and Head of Piano and Conducting Departments, and since 2017, Music Director of the Youth Catalan Philharmonic Orchestra – JOFICAT and the Spanish Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.
On the 5th of January 2019 the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society has premiered in Russia Melani’s “Violintango Concerto” at the Great Hall of the Philharmony, after its premiere in Switcherland (2016) by Ensemble Eperanza and in Poland (2017) by the “Archetti” Chamber Orchestra. This work is to be world premiere recorded on September 2019 under the well know Russian label Melodiya,
* * *
February 27, 2020 /thursday/ 18.30 hours Hall “M-Ro G.Atanasov”
Conductor: Gustavo Fontana
Soloist: Anna Miernik – piano /Poland/
Program:
Robert Schumann – Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92
∗∗∗
Gustavo Fontana
Maestro Gustavo Fontana former director of the Mendoza Philharmonic Orchestra since his appointment in 2014, he has served as music director of the Bahia Blanca Symphony Orchestra , the Córdoba Symphony Band , and the Symphonic Band of the City of Buenos Aires . As a guest conductor, he has worked with numerous institutions both nationally and internationally, such as National Symphony of Argentina, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Porto Alegre Symhony Orchestra, Sinfónica de Brasilia, Belo Horizonte Symphony, Walbrzych Philharmonic, Kielce Philharmonic, Salvador de Bahía Symphony, Montevideo Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Philharmonic of Venezuela , Burgas Philharmonic (Bulgaria), Mallorca Festival Symphony Orchestra (Spain), Sao Paulo State Symphony Band, Córdoba Symphony Orchestra, San Juan Symphony Orchestra and Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra, among others. Maestro Fontana studied with Cristóbal Soler (Spain), Milan Nachev (Bulgaria) and Charles Dutoit (Switzerland). He has collaborated with artists from diverse backgrounds, such as Pinchas Zukerkman, John Malkovich, Amanda Forsyth, Xavier Inchausti, Pablo Saraví, Aristo Sham, Ivan Rutkauskas, Ø ysten Baadsvik, Mariano Rey, Stanimir Todorov, Steven Mead, Carlos Céspedes, Pacho Flores, Jorge de la Vega, Cristoph Hartmann, Martin Kuuskman, Darío Volonté, Chango Spasiuk, Jaime Torres, Guillermo Fernández, Ricardo Mollo, Elena Roger, Pedro Aznar, Juan Carlos Baglietto, Eleonora Cassano, Hernán Piquín, Leo Maslíah, among others. Very active as a teacher, he held the position of National Coordinator of PSOIJ of the Ministry of Culture of Argentina, and actively collaborates with institutions and niversities worldwide. He began his musical career as a member of the Children Choir of Teatro Colón, where he participated in productions with artists like Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. He later studied the trumpet at the National Conservatory of Music, under the guidance of Osvaldo Lacunza . In 1995/96 took lessons with Raymond Mase (Juilliard School of Music), Robert Sullivan (NY Phil), and John Wallace (Royal Academy of Music). As a trumpet player he was a member of the New York Youth Symphony in 1996. He also joined the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra during the Latin American tour of 1993, under the direction of Zubin Mehta . At home, he was part of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra, the Permanent Orchestra of Teatro Colón, and the National Symphony Orchestra as associate principal trumpet.
Anna Miernik
Anna Miernik is one of the few really outstanding Polish artists of the young generation.
/Zbigniew Lampart, composer, music critic/
Anna Miernik has already performed on 5 continents in 35 countries (Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Montenegro, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Peru, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, USA). In 2015 she performed in Carnegie Hall in New York in Weill Recital Hall. She performs in prestigious concert halls such as Sydney Opera House, Gran Teatro Nacional in Lima, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. During her second stay in Australia in 2016 she performed with an orchestra on a very special occasion. It was a concert in Melbourne Town Hall where, exactly 111 years ago, her great compatriot Ignacy Jan Paderewski had concerts. She has performed in cities such as Ottawa, Calgary (Canada), Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth (Australia), Wellington (New Zealand), Vienna (Austria), Paris (France), Rome, Bari (Italy), Tbilisi (Georgia), Yerevan (Armenia), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Tel Aviv, Haifa (Israel), Miami (USA), São Paulo, Brasilia (Brazil), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Bogota (Colombia), Lima (Peru), Santiago de Chile. Her first CD containing Sonatas by J. Brahms and C. Franck was released in 2014. The idea for this recording originated with Patrycja Piekutowska, world-renowned violinist, who invited Anna to join her in the project. The disc has received enthusiastic reviews, and according to Newsweek Polska it is: ‘an enjoyable portion of classical music’. In August 2017 Anna recorded a CD featuring songs written by Feliks Nowowiejski, which is also widely available in major streaming services. What makes this compilation unique is the selection of the works for the recording; they have never been publicly performed before and their recording is based on manuscripts that are kept in the Raczyński Library in Poznań. Its release was followed shortly by another CD, this time featuring F. Nowowiejski’s works for piano solo. The music from both discs is available in popular digital music services (Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, etc.) Anna received her honours degree from the Academy of Music in Kraków in 2013, after completing her studies in professor Andrzej Pikul’s piano class. She has also studied under tuition of professor Sławomir Zubrzycki (constructor of viola organista, the unique instrument designed more than 500 years ago by Leonardo da Vinci). Anna participated in master classes run by eminent pedagogues, such as prof. Paul Badura-Skoda, prof. Andrzej Jasinski, prof. Dina Yoffe. One of Anna’s passions is to share her knowledge of music with young students of piano. She has run courses both in Poland and abroad, including São Paulo (Brazil), Lima (Peru), Oaxaca (Mexico), Thessaloniki (Greece). Anna began a new chapter in her teaching career in 2018, starting a course in the so-called Mother-Tongue Approach that has been created by a Japanese violinist Shinichi Suzuki. As her repertoire comprises the works of 40 Polish composers, the artist regularly adds their compositions to the programs of her concerts. In this way she promotes Polish music abroad. The pianist performs pieces of music that represent different epochs, genres and styles. Thanks to her fascination with modern music Anna participated in several premiere performances of various compositions – even the ones that were dedicated to her. Fascination with Polish music resulted in the newly released CD My Polish Reflection, which features the works of 10 Polish composers. She has won several international and national prizes. In recognition of her artistic and scholarly accomplishments Anna Miernik has been awarded numerous prizes and scholarships, including the ones granted by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Minister of Science and Higher Education.