Born on May 10, 1946 in Rybnik, southern Poland, he began his musical education in his native town. In his late teens, he enrolled at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw, where he studied with Jan Ekier, graduating in 1970.
“It all really began with my sense of curiosity at the time when the piano in my family home was just a piece of furniture for me, I became curious to discover how it works”, the pianist recalled after many years.
Paleczny’s international career got off to a good start after winning the Third Prize at the 1970 International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. He has performed at such prestigious venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, The Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna’s Musikverein, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Royal Festival Hall in London, and appeared as a soloist with such prominent orchestras as the Chicago Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, RAI, and Santa Cecilia.
His discography includes CDs for EMI, Naxos, BBC Classics, Pony Canyon, Olympia, CD Accord, and DUX.
Paleczny has gained recognition as a jury member at many leading piano competitions, including those in Warsaw, Leeds, Paris, Tel Aviv, London, Cleveland, Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Salt Lake City. Minneapolis, Santander, Taipei, Weimar, Manchester, Los Angeles and Hilton Head.
Paleczny has also done a great deal to promote Polish music in the international circuit, regularly including works by Chopin, Paderewski, Szymanowski and Lutosławski in his concert programmes.
He has led a piano class at his alma mater since 1997 and has served as director of the International Chopin Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój, south-western Poland, since 1993 and of the Ignacy Jan Paderewski International Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz since 2004.
His honours include the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Reborn Poland, the Gold Gloria Artis Medal of Cultural Merit and high Japanese and Mexican state distinctions.
(mk/jh)