Meet Marzena Diakun, Conductor for National Competition Finals
The 2020 National Chopin Piano Competition kicks off on February 22nd. Over the next week, participants will compete at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium, culminating in two days of final rounds, with finalists performing Chopin piano concertos and Marzena Diakun conducting the Frost Symphony Orchestra.
Marzena is an award-winning conductor whose awards include second prize at the prestigious 59th Prague Spring Competition for Conductors and the Fitelberg International Competition for Conductors in Poland, "Polityka Passport" for the best artist in the classical music in 2016, and nominee for the Classical Best Innovation Award in 2019.
The Poland native was drawn to the conductor's podium from an early age, and soon began breaking barriers as a powerful, talented woman in a male-dominated industry. Marzena was a finalist of the 4th International Lutosławski Conducting Competition (2006) and semifinalist of both Donatella Flick Conductors Competition in London and Quadaques Competition in Barcelona (2008), but truly broke through to international acclaim in Paris in the 2015/16 season after several concerts with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.
“I always try to find the essence of the music,” Marzena says. “I try to find the main ideas of the composer. The natural flow of energy between the musicians and the public is the most important thing.”
Her recent engagements include Liverpool Philharmonic, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, Göteborg Opera, Presidential Symphony Orchestra in Ankara, Istanbul Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, and many more.
Marzena is a conductor who loves not only live music and collaboration (she has collaborated with such soloists, cellists, singers, and violinists), but also recording music. Marzena says she tries to channel the energy from live performances into her recorded pieces as well.
We hope that you will come be a part of the unique and special energy between Marzena and the audience when she leads the Frost Symphony Orchestra during the National Competition Finals on February 29th and March 1st! Get your tickets to the finals here.