Polish pianist and emerging superstar Rafał Blechacz was recently awarded the 2014 Gilmore Artist Award, but Blechacz's first prestigious honor came in 2005 when he swept every first prize at the 15th Frédéric Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw.

The 28-year-old began his piano studies at age five, and graduated from the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz in 2007. He became an exclusive recording artist for Deutsche Grammophon in 2006, and released his latest album in September.