Whirl With Merle

Pianist Daniel Wnukowski Performs Music by Karol Rathaus at Queens College

Mr. Wnukowski also performs Rathaus’s Piano Concerto with The Orchestra Now conducted by Leon Botstein at Queens College, where the composer served as the university’s first professor of composition; performs the composer’s Suite for Violin and Piano with Samuel Katz at Manhattan’s Center for Jewish History; and leads a master class at Queens College on piano music by Rathaus and other composers of the early- and mid-20th century

Daniel Wnukowski is a Polish-Canadian pianist whose insightful interpretations of the classics are complemented by projects that shed light on overlooked corners of the repertoire, particularly those that connect with his Polish and Jewish cultural heritage.

He has performed throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia in many prestigious concert halls, including at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Salle Pleyel in Paris, Wigmore Hall and the Barbican in London, and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. In addition to championing the music of interwar Jewish composers, he has an affinity for the music of Frédéric Chopin and other important Polish composers, having performed at Chopin societies around the world and won the 2000 Polish National Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition.

His recordings include exiled composer Walter Arlens’ complete piano works and his chamber music with violinist Daniel Hope, soprano Rebecca Nelsen, and baritone Christian Immler; works by Chopin and Szymanowski; and a DVD release of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue performed live on Polish television with the Warsaw National Philharmonic conducted by Jerzy Maksymiuk. His performances have been aired on radio and television stations throughout the world