Sigismond de Stojowski

Sigismond Stojowski was a Polish-born American pianist, teacher, and composer. He had first taken piano lessons in Krakow and made his debut as a pianist at the age of 17. He then went to Paris, where he studied piano and composition from 1887-89. There he also won first prizes for piano, counterpoint, and fugue. Later he also attended a course with the famous Polish pianist and composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941).

Stojowski remained in Paris until 1906, when he went to the United States as head of the piano department at the Institute of Musical Art in New York. He taught there until 1912 and later held a similar position at the Von Ende School of Music in New York. He also taught at the Juilliard Summer School for several years. Eventually he opened his own Stojowski Studios and taught there with his wife, Luisa Morales-Macedo (1890-1982).

In 1938, Stojowski became a naturalized American citizen. During his heyday, he was extremely successful as a concert pianist, and in his later years he was valued primarily as a pedagogue.

Stojowski composed a symphony, a violin concerto, and two piano concertos, a Rhapsodie symphonique for piano and orchestra, a concert piece for cello and orchestra, two cantatas, numerous piano pieces, chamber music works, and songs. His Symphony in D minor, op. 21, was played in 1901 at the first concert of the Warsaw Philharmonic. With it he had won the Paderewski Competition in Leipzig three years earlier. He was the first Polish composer to have an entire concert dedicated to his music by the New York Philharmonic.