Detmold Hochschule für Musik

Piotr Oczkowski was born to a musical family in Krakow, Poland. At the age of six his family and he emigrated to Maracaibo, Venezuela. His parents were among a large group of Polish musicians who were asked by the Venezuelan government to found the Maracaibo Symphony Orchestra. He received his first piano lessons at the age of eight under concert pianist Elzbieta Sobkowicz, who had also emigrated. His debut at the age of 11 was with Joseph Haydn's Concerto for Piano in D-Major with the Maracaibo Symphony Orchestra. This was soon followed

by recordings for Venezuelan radio and TV as well as more performances with diverse Venezuelan orchestras.

At the age of 15, Oczkowski went to Bloomington, USA, to become a "special student" at the Indiana University, where he took piano lessons from the Chilean pianist and composer, Alfonso Montesino. He finished high school at Bloomington.

At the age of 17, he received a DAAD Bonn bursary to come to Germany and receive further education at the Northwest German Academy for Music in Detmold under Friedrich Wilhelm Schnurr. This is where he completed his piano studies in 1990.

He continued his training with a scholarship from the Venezuelan culture ministry CONAC; undertaking postgraduate studies at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in München with Russian pianist Vadim Suchanov. He took part in international master courses with Russian Professor Dimitri Bashkirov. He also participated in the Mozarteum Salzburg, as well as the Ruhr Piano Festival in Recklinghausen.

His musical career lead him to Professor Elgin Roth in Hamburg and Professor Dr Marco Antonion de Almeida, who advised him to take up studies in the subject of music pedagogy and performance practice at the Martin Luther University. He completed these studies with distinction in the autumn of 2000.

In 1995 he played in numerous concerts during the Polish Cultural Days in Bavaria. In 1999 he played in the opening concert of the festival From Chopin to Penderecki in the München Prince Regent Theatre. In May 2000, he completed the music tour Music in the Bank, organised by Schmidt-Bank, through Bavaria and Saxony. He also played in concerts in the Meistersinger Hall in Nürnberg; in Jameos del Agua; on Lanzarote and in Sao Paolo, Brazil. In 2005 and 2006, he took part in the Festival de Música de Londrina in Brazil as pianist and lecturer. He also participated in 2007.

Oczkowski played as soloist with the Warren Symphony Orchestra, Detroit, USA; the Maracaibo Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela; the Venezuela Philharmonic Orchestra and the Halle Philharmonic State Orchestra.

In addition to his piano career he has also been very productive in an educational capacity. In 1998 he was appointed lecturer at the Martin Luther University as well as at Halle in the subject of coaching and vocal accompaniment. Since November 2000 he has been lecturing in his main subject piano and song composition. In October 2006 he took over the chair as head of the Highly Gifted Centre at the Detmold University of Music.

He has won the following competitions:

• 1983 - Indianapolis Concert Competition, Indiana, USA

• 1983 - Grand Rapids International Piano Competition, Michigan, USA

• 1989 - International Chopin Competition in Caracas, Venezuela

• 1991 - VIII Latin American Piano Competition Teresa Carreño Caracas, Venezuela