Pianist, chamber musician. Doctoral student at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. Previously, he graduated from the mentioned university in the faculty of piano chamber music under the supervision of Professor Krystyna Borucińska and from the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz in the piano class of Professor Ewa Pobłocka and Professor Jerzy Sulikowski. He has participated in master classes of such artists as Dina Yoffe, Anna Malikova, Alexey Orlovestky, Kevin Kenner, Andrzej Jasiński.
Pavel Popko is active as a soloist and chamber musician. He has performed in the most important concert halls in Poland, including the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic, the Wroclaw Philharmonic, the Pomeranian Philharmonic, the Gorzów Philharmonic, and the Polish Radio Concert Studio. It could also be heard in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Spain, Portugal and Italy. The pianist collaborated with conductors such as Kazimierz Dąbrowski, Jakub Chrenowicz, Krzysztof Sobczuk.
Paweł Popko has won many awards at international competitions, including: 1st prize at the International Music Forum in Mäntta, Finland, 3rd prize at the 5th International Piano Competition. A. Rubinstein in Saint Petersburg.
He has also succeeded in playing in chamber ensembles. Since 2018, he has co-founded the Warsaw Trio with Maria Leszczyńska (cello) and Piotr Thieu-Quang (clarinet). In 2023, the ensemble made its debut at the Mirror Room of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Chamber Hall of the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice. During the 2nd Stanisław Moniuszko International Polish Music Competition in Rzeszów, together with Piotr Thieu-Quang, they received a distinction and two special prizes – for the best performance of a work written after 1945 and an award in the form of a year’s media coverage (POLMIC). The musicians also received a special prize for the best performance of a work written by a Polish composer at the 21st International K. Bacewicz Chamber Music Competition in Łódź, 2nd prize and a special prize at the 2nd All-Poland Piano Duo Competition in Gdańsk, as well as the main prize at the 9th International Chamber Music Competition in Bydgoszcz in the form of the ensemble’s promotional CD recording.
The pianist is particularly fascinated by contemporary music. He premiered works by Polish composers of the young generation, including Żaneta Rydzewska, Lena Michajłów, Magdalena Białecka and Wojciech Chałupka. In 2020, Paweł Popko, together with the Chopin University Modern Ensemble, recorded their debut album of works by composers of contemporary music. The album was released by Chopin University Press and was nominated for the 2021 Fryderyk Award.