Biographical Info

Marta Karbownicka (MA, Warsaw), born in Poland, started to learn piano at the age of 6 with her Godmother, Professor Zofia Wezyk, at the State School of Music in Radom.

At the age of 13 she was a boarder at the Nowowiejski School of Music in Gdansk where for 5 years she studied with Professor Elzbieta Bielicka-Sokolnicka. Between 1975 and 1980 she studied at the Fr. Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw with the pre-eminent Professor Jan Ekier (producer of the new Chopin URTEXT National Edition).

Throughout her education Marta was privileged to work with people who were not only great artists and teachers, but highly ethical, self-disciplined and perceptive individuals.

The greatest influence on her development has undoubtedly been the result of a meeting in 1967 with the legendary pianist Witold Malcuzynski (who has himself studied with Ignacy Paderewski, the most famous musician of his day) who, having received an enormous impression of the young girl’s talent, looked after her pianistic and musical progress for the next decade, until his untimely death in Majorca in 1977.

Her orchestral debut took place aged 16 with a performance of Chopin’s Rondo a la Krakowiak at the Baltic Philharmonic Hall in Gdansk, followed by the Grieg Concerto a year later. Since that time she has played all over Poland as well as abroad including recordings for Polish Radio and Television.<br><br>In addition to her solo career she was for many years involved in the life of the famous Warsaw School of Drama and the Theatre Stara Prochownia also in Warsaw, by arranging the music, coaching and accompanying the performances.

Since 1986 Marta has resided in Manchester where she teaches piano at both the Junior RNCM and Chetham’s School of Music. Between 2004 and 2007 she was a tutor at York University.

In the spring of 1999 she was the subject of a documentary made for Polish Television about her life including extensive footage with her pupils in action at Chetham’s. Dedicated to working with the young generation of musicians, her goal in life is to pass on to them all the knowledge and experience she has herself gained during her life