The Board
Maria Gabryś-Heyke, Sylwia Jakubek, Bronisława Kawalla, Zbigniew Lasocki, Joanna Ławrynowicz, Janusz Olejniczak, Piotr Paleczny, Jan Popis, Karol Radziwonowicz, Ryszard Sławiński, Wojciech Świtała, Waldemar Wojtal
President of the Board
Bronisława Kawalla
General Director of the Society
Ewa Sławińska-Dahlig
On 12 December 2021 the General Assembly of the Members of the Fryderyk Chopin Society elected a new Board.
The voters from Warsaw and from the Society’s local groups operating across the country traditionally elected prominent Polish pianists and pedagogues. They are Prof. Bronisława Kawalla-Ryszka (Warsaw), Karol Radziwonowicz (Warsaw), Prof. Maria Gabryś-Heyke (Warsaw), Prof. Zbigniew Lasocki (Łódź), Prof. Joanna Ławrynowicz (Warsaw), Prof. Janusz Olejniczak (Warsaw), Prof. Piotr Paleczny (Warsaw), Prof. Wojciech Świtała (Katowice), Prof. Waldemar Wojtal (Gdańsk). The remaining members include Jan Popis, a musicologist and a music critic of note, and two local representatives: Sylwia Jakubek, vice-chairwoman in Ostrów Wielkopolski, and Ryszard Sławiński, a longtime chairman in Żychlin near Konin, a politician, a journalist, a two-term senator and a member of the National Broadcasting Council (2004-2005).
The new Board met on 24 January 2022 to formalize its status. The Board re-elected Prof. Bronisława Kawalla as president of the Society (she has held the position since 2018) and chose Karol Radziwonowicz and Jan Popis to act as vice-presidents.
Prof. Kawalla is a well-known concert pianist and a piano teacher at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. She has taught a few generations of Polish and foreign pianists, and has served on the juries of prestigious piano competitions. A graduate of Polish and US music universities, Karol Radziwonowicz is a versatile pianist and a piano teacher. It is his second term as vice-president. Jan Popis is a new member of the Board. A music writer and promoter, he produces and publishes classical music records, and provides comments on piano competitions and festivals during live broadcasts. He is the artistic director of the International Young Pianists Competition Arthur Rubinstein in Memoriam and of the Polish Piano Festival in Słupsk.
The present Board will serve a five-year term of office (2021-2026).