Janina Fialkowska - Early Life

Early Life

Fialkowska was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to a Canadian mother (Bridget Todd Fialkowski) and a Polish father (Jerzy Fialkowski), an engineer and Polish army officer who emigrated to Canada in 1945. Her mother was descended from an old Canadian family of Scottish-Irish and Cree (aboriginal) stock, who studied piano in the class of Alfred Cortot at the École Normale de Musique de Paris (1935–1939). Fialkowska is the Granddaughter of Dr. John Todd, Canada’s first Professor of Parasitology, and Great-granddaughter of Sir Edward Clouston, President of the Canadian Bankers Association. She is the Cousin of Canadian Politician and former cabinet minister David Anderson and cousin of stage and screen actor Christopher Plummer.

Fialkowska began to study piano at age 4 with her mother and in 1960 enrolled in the École Vincent-d’Indy in Montreal. In 1963, at the age of 12, she made her debut as a soloist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and began studying with Yvonne Hubert. She pursued her secondary education at the prestigious Montreal girls school The Study, graduating in 1967. The following year, at the age of 17, she simultaneously obtained undergraduate (Baccalauréat) and Maitrise from the Université de Montréal. During this period, she also studied in Paris with virtuoso and teacher Yvonne Lefébure (1966, 1968–1969). In 1969 she was awarded 1st Prize in the CBC National Radio Competition for Young Performers in Canada and travelled occasionally to New York City for private studies with Sasha Gorodnitzki. In 1970, she settled in New York and enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music as a student of Sasha Gorodnitzki, later becoming his teaching assistant from 1979-1984. Following her prize-winning performance at the inaugural Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition held in Tel Aviv in 1974, Arthur Rubinstein became her mentor and launched her international career.