Edwin Kowalik

Edwin Kowalik (born September 1, 1928 in Chropazów , † May 20, 1997 in Warsaw ) was a Polish pianist, publicist and composer.

Kowalik lived with his family in Częstochowa until 1935. Visually impaired due to an injury during childbirth, he went completely blind that year and came to the center for the blind in Laski near Warsaw, where he completed primary school and two years of professional training and received his first piano lessons from Włodzimierz Dolański and Włodzimierz Bielajew . The outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising ended the training period in Laski.

From 1945 to 1953 Kowalik studied piano at the Łódź Music Academy, first with Władysław Kędra , and later with Maria Wiłkomirska . At the International Piano Competition in Bucharest in 1953 he won third prize, at the International Chopin Competition in 1955 he was one of the finalists and received an honorary diploma. From 1956 he lived in Warsaw.

After his success at the Chopin Competition, he began a career as a concert pianist that lasted 40 years. He has performed in numerous cities in Poland, as well as in the United States and Canada, in South America, Germany, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Spain and England. He also made radio and recordings, a CD entitled Moje fascynatie with piano works by Fryderyk Chopin and poems recited by Krzysztof Kolberger was released after his death.

From 1957 he published works by Fryderyk Chopin and Karol Szymanowski in Braille as an editor and publisher in the Polish Association of the Blind . In addition, he prepared Braille editions of numerous textbooks. On an international level, he worked on the standardization of music notation for the blind. In 1960 he founded the Muzyczny magazine , of which he was editor-in-chief for many years. He wrote journalistic works, especially in the field of music, as well as essays and memoirs.

As a composer, Kowalik mainly emerged with piano pieces and songs, some of which he wrote himself. In 1979 he won the third prize at the composers' competition in Prague with his piano piece Trytyk . He has been honored many times for his work, including the Golden Cross of Merit of the Republic of Poland (1956), the Knight's Cross of the Order Polonia Restituta (1970) and the Order of the Banner of Labor ( Order Sztandaru Pracy (1979)). Two documentaries were made about him: Chopin zapisany brajlem (Chopin in Braille) and Pamięci Edwina Kowalika (Memories of Edwin Kowalik). In 1998 the Edwin Kowalik Music Society was founded, the aim of which is to support and encourage the active participation of blind people in music.

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personal data
SURNAME	Kowalik, Edwin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Polish pianist, publicist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH	September 1, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH	Chropazów
DATE OF DEATH	May 20, 1997
Place of death	Warsaw