Halina Czerny-Stefańska - Polish pianist of worldwide fame. Bom in Kraków (Cracow, Poland), where she started her musical education.

Ber father - Professor Stanisław Czemy was her first musie teacher. Later on she received tuition from Alfred Cortot in Paris, than from a great expert on Chopin's musie - Józef Turczyński and again in Cracow from an eminent pedagogue - Professor Zbigniew Drzewiecki. The real turning point in her life was winning the first place and the additional award for the best performance of mazurkas at IV International F. Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1949. Since than, her extraordinary international career has started. She has performed in every European country as well as in Japan and in both Americas. She gave over 20 tours in USSR as well, everywhere arousing the critics' approval and admiration of musie lovers. great artistic events. She has played with the best world known symphonic orchestras led by such famous conductors as: Adrian Boult, Zubin Mehta, Georg Solti, Vaclav Smetaćek, etc. She is also a very welI renowned performer of chamber musie, Her rich eoncert repertoire includes pieces from baroque to the contemporary musie.

with the main stress on romantic composition, first of all F. Chopin's musie. She recorded many albums for Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, Telefunken-Decca, His Master's Voice, RCA in Japan and others. In 1989-93 the Pony Canyon company from Tokyo released series of her CDs with mazurkas and F. Chopin's nocturnes and I. 1. Paderewski's pieces.

Halina Czemy-Stefańska is a member of jury in many well known internationalpiano competitions (F. Chopin Competition in Warsaw, P. Tchaikovsky Competition and S. Rachmaninov Competition in Moscow, M. Long and 1. Thibaud Competition in Paris, A. Rubinstein Competition in Tel-Aviv, etc.).

She also lectured at many musie academies (in Weimar, Darmstadt, Hamburg, Lugano, Tokyo, etc.) and at the Academy of Arts in Nagoya. Nowadays she is a professor at GEDAI University in Tokyo. Last year in Aigasawa (Japan), I International Halina.

Czerny-Stefańska Piano Competition took place. Polish authorities have awarded Halina Czerny-Stefańska with high state distinctions and prizes. This accomplished artist has been approved as "the Ambassador of Polish Culture" in the world.

Halina Czerny-Stefańska died on 1st July 2001.