Bolesław Kon

Who was Bolesław Kon?

Bolesław Kon was a Polish concert pianist who won international acclaim in his brief career.

Kon was born into a poor Jewish family in Warsaw. He began his piano training aged about 10, at the Moscow Conservatory under Konstantin Igumnov. In 1924 he returned to Poland and continued his studies, first at the Chopin Higher Academy, and then at the Warsaw Conservatory under Aleksander Michałowski and afterwards under Juliusz Wertheim and Zbigniew Drzewiecki. Even as a student he showed extraordinary powers, and a front-rank career was anticipated for him.

After graduation he moved to Kraków as professor of piano at the Music Society Conservatory there, of which he became Director in 1929–1931. By now he was giving orchestral concerts in Warsaw and Kraków, and in 1932, at Drzewiecki's urging, he entered the second International Chopin Piano Competition and won the third prize. In the following year, after a short period of preparation living in Vienna, he entered the International Music Competition there and obtained first prize. Kon at once received many invitations to give concerts.