Christopher Malek

"So rare to hear a pianist of this calibre with such an intimate knowledge of the Chopin repertoire at his fingertips, the capacity audience was left breathless, mesmerised and in awe of his performance"- Swan Magazine

"This genius, now living in Australia, scored a five-minute ovation from the crowd"- Herald Sun

"Guest pianist Christopher Malek smashes the ivory keys with a frenetic flurry of a maddening fury. Delicate notes dance unbelievably effortlessly with powerful chords, hit with absolutely no inhibitions or pretence. Nothing but blurs affect the air during his rendition of "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6" from Liszt. Amazing to watch"- The Wax Conspiracy

"There's only one other pianist like him, Horowitz"- Wanda Wilkomirska

Christopher Malek is one of Australia's finest international concert pianists. Thanks to his musicality, poetic quality of his interpretation and extraordinary virtuosity, he is best known for his performances of music of the romantic period, especially Chopin and Liszt where he continues the grand tradition of the golden age of piano.

Christopher has graduated with highest distinction for extraordinary artistic achievements from a special talents school- Z. Brzewski State Music High School in Warsaw, Poland. He had studied with Theresa Manasterska at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Victor Makarov (himself a student of Regina Horowitz, the sister of Vladimir Horowitz) in Sydney, Australia, Lee Kum Sing (who was a pupil of Julius Katchen and Madga Tagliafero) at the Vancouver Academy of Music in Canada and Natalia Sheludiakova at the Australian Institute of Music. Always in pursuit of the finest quality he had taken part in Masterclasses with some of the greatest pedagogues including Victor Merzhanov (Moscow Conservatory), Oxana Yablonskaya (Juilliard School), Rita Reichman (ANAM Melbourne), Vladimir Viardo (Moscow Conservatory), Alexey Orlovetzky (St Petersburg Conservatory), Christopher Elton (Royal Academy of Music, London) and more.

Mr. Malek is a top prizewinner of a number of national and international competitions. He has won his first national contest at an early age of 10, which was soon followed by his debut with an orchestra. In his early teens he did a series of television recordings and eventually took part in a TV classical music competition which he won, also receiving the audience prize. In 1997 he was a prizewinner at the Paderewski Competition, in 1999 he received Second Prize at the International Chopin Competition in Vilnius and in 2001 he was awarded First Prize at the International Bacewicz Competition in Lodz. In 2007 he received First Prize and Gold Medal at the Chopin Competition in Sydney.

Since his early successes in piano competitions, Christopher Malek continues to travel and perform around the world. So far music has taken him to over thirty countries in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. He has made a number of archive recordings for radio and television in several countries and released several CDs and DVDs. He has also played the main role of Frederic Chopin in a film about the composer.

In 2000, in recognition of his achievements he was awarded the prestigious prize-scholarship by the Polish Ministry of Culture. In 2008 Mr. Malek received a Distinguished Talent Permanent Residency of Australia. In 2011 he was awarded an honorary Diploma from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for ‘Outstanding achievements in promoting the heritage of the great composer internationally during the International Chopin Year 2010’. Closely working with government and diplomatic missions around the world, he has received numerous awards for his contribution to arts sector.

In 2019 Christopher received the highest civilian order of his city and was awarded by the president the title of 'Cultural Ambassador' during a special ceremony after his recital.

To mark the post-Covid return to the stage, he has performed Brahms Piano Concerto in D Minor with BSO Adelaide in 2022.

His first name used to be spelled Krzysztof however due to constant errors in spelling for many years and therefore inability to properly track the concert schedules it has now been changed to Christopher.

Christopher was born in the Polish city of Stalowa Wola, where his father was a director of a major technological company and his mother was a teacher. While his grandmother played the violin, he grew up in a family mostly consisting of lawyers and his brother is a high-ranking police officer. Christopher is a licensed pilot and a strong advocate of general aviation. He lives in Sydney, Australia with his wife and daughter.