MgA. Zuzana Simurdova

Zuzana Simurdova, (MgA., D.E.S.S., DAMPS, Dis.), a Laureate of UNESCO Award for her interpretation of the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1, is a Canadian concert pianist of Czech origin, who has taught piano interpretation at the Conservatory of Opava in the Czech Republic, the Catholic University of Daegu in South Korea, and at the Brno Conservatory in Seoul. Her Great-grandfather, Eduard Marhula, was a student of the famous Czech composer Leos Janacek. He found the first music institute in her hometown Ostrava in Moravia, now named after him: https://www.zusmarhory.cz/o-skole/historie-skoly-a-soucasnot/ In Czech, she graduated from the Janacek Academy of Performing Arts in Brno as well as from the Janacek Conservatory in Ostrava. In Canada, she graduated from the Universite de Montreal and from the Concordia University in Montreal. Ms. Simurdova was a recepient of the Socrates Erasmus grant to study with the renowned professor Renna Kellaway from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK. She has performed concerts in Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, France, Italy, Canada, USA and South Korea. Zuzana is the 1st Prize winner at the International Music Competition in London and the Janacek 1st Prize winner from the Vienna Hochschule für Musik, at the International Piano Master-courses "Prague-Vienna-Budapest". Since meeting her husband, Dr. Mikolaj Warszynski, at the Banff Centre for the Arts, together they formed a ZUMI Piano Duo. Recently, this duo has been on tour in China, Europe and across Canada. As a Winner of the Chopin Award from the IBLA International Music Competition, Ms. Simurdova gave her Carnegie Hall debut recital. Her interpretation of Chopin was described as: “...she lets the music breathe and resonate. This is not Chopin in a hurry and Zuzana is a musician following her own path....” - from the Carnegie Hall Review, New York. www.chopinpianostudio.com www.zuzanapianist.com