Rafał Blechacz

In 2005, the young Polish concert pianist Rafal Blechacz became the first ever pianist to win all five first prizes at the prestigious International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. He was 20 years old at the time and his performances displayed such a prodigious talent that one of the judges said Blechacz "so outclassed the remaining finalists that no second prize could actually be awarded."

After making his mark it wasn't long before the pianist was signed by a major record company and Blechacz joined the artists roster of Deutsche Grammophon in 2006. He has gone on to record with the Warsaw Philharmonic and has performed with orchestras such as the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and the Russian National Orchestra. In 2014 Blechacz was named as that year's Gilmore Artist, a prize worth $300,000. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in philosophy with the emphasis on aesthetics and the philosophy of music.