Born in Shanghai in 1934, Fou Ts’ong studied in Warsaw from 1954 to 1956, and rose to prominence after winning Third Prize and a special award for best interpretation of a mazurka at the 1955 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
Poland’s National Chopin Institute (NIFC) said on its website that Fou Ts’ong's departure “brings to a close a crucial page in the Chopin tradition; we bid farewell to a master, musician and philosopher with a unique gift for conveying Chopin’s greatness to the world both in words and, above all, through his playing. A true wise man of the East, he taught us how to understand and feel the Mazovian mazurka.”
Odszedł legendarny pianista Fou Ts'ong Z głębokim smutkiem przyjęliśmy wiadomość o śmierci legendarnego chińskiego...
Posted by Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina on Monday, December 28, 2020
The institute added that Fou Ts’ong was in love with Polish culture and had many close friends in Poland. It also recalled that, after fleeing to the UK, he played his first concert with an orchestra conducted by his fellow exile and friend, Polish composer and conductor Andrzej Panufnik.
After settling in London in 1958, Fou Ts’ong performed throughout the world.
He returned to Poland on many occasions, giving recitals, appearing with the Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra, and serving on the jury of the International Chopin Competition in 1985 and 2010.
(mk/gs)