“She doesn't just play, she lives music” (Sonja Koller, General Anzeiger), “great freedom and full control of the instrument” (Agata Kwiecińska, Ruch Muzyczny), “a woman with a mission” (Ralph Graves, WTJU Virginia), these are also comparisons of the young Polish pianist's playing.
She has played in many countries (England, France, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, USA, Venezuela, Israel, Spain, Estonia, etc. ) and in many important concert halls, including Carnegie Hall in New York, Royal Albert Hall in London, Beethoven-Haus Concert Hall in Bonn, Ehrbar Saal in Vienna, National Forum of Music in Wrocław, National Philharmonic in Warsaw, philharmonic halls in Kraków, Łódź, Jelenia Góra and Rzeszów, Mozarteum in Salzburg and Ferenc Liszt Concert Hall in Reading. Her debut CD of piano works by Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz (DUX 1689) was well received. Pianist Magazine and The Gramophone named it “one of the best recordings of the year” and “one of the best new CDs”. Another CD of Chopin's works (the Sheva Collection) has been a best-seller on Naxos for a year. She has also made several recordings for Polish, Brazilian, Argentinian, Israeli, English and French television and radio.
Sochacka has won prizes in several international piano competitions, and has also won first prize and special prizes in the 17th Citta di Padova International Competition (2019). She has also received several scholarships: Young Poland, Rita Zimmermann Musikstiftung Bern.
Sochacka is also President of the AGITATO Music Foundation | Musikstiftung, Artistic Director of the AEGIO International Piano Competition - Europe, and serves on juries at competitions in China, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Poland and Switzerland. He also conducts masterclasses for various world associations (China, Germany, Japan, Canada, Portugal, Bulgaria, etc.).
Piano Recital III – Joanna Sochacka
An evening full of musical works by female composers, such will be the debut of the young Polish pianist Joanna Sochacka at the Slovak Philharmonic. A graduate of the music academies in Graz, Łódź and Krakow, she has amazed visitors of the world's most prestigious concert halls with her playing. Her playing has been described as hypnotic, vital, exciting and revelatory. Ralph Grave has said of Sochacki that she is “a woman with a message”, the current one will be to present the work of three female composers who are absent from mainstream programmes. In the shadow of her brother, the work of composer and pianist Fanna Mendelssohn rests before the Slovak audience. In the field of education and composition, Grażyna Bacewicz is undoubtedly an important figure for Polish culture. She studied piano, violin and composition in parallel, which gave her a perfect understanding of the dispositions of these instruments. She personally premiered the second sonata at the Concert of the Union of Polish Composers in December 1953. Bacewicz placed high demands on the performer for dynamic nuances and complicated compound rhythms. Her music is “aggressive yet lyrical”, as she herself said “there is a lot going on in my music”. The evening will close with a work by the young Ukrainian composer and pianist Anfisa Bobyl, who is based at the University of Graz. The calm, soundscape reflections were created during the pandemic.
