She's Hooked on Chopin

It probably comes as no great surprise that Janina Fialkowska has been in love with the music of Chopin from a very early age.

You could almost say it was fated, especially after the experience of watching the great pianist Arthur Rubenstein play some of the composer's work in Montreal when Fialkowska was 12.

Already something of a prodigy on the piano, having debuted that year as a soloist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, she immediately fell in love with the composer's expressive and gorgeous music.

"It was kind of an epiphany," says the Canadian-born pianist, who was eventually mentored by Rubenstein himself in the 1970s.

"With the emotional reaction I had, I realized what I could do on the piano with this music. It was like a little light bulb went on, and that's when I decided I wanted to be a concert pianist."

Little wonder that years later, Fialkowska, now a revered pianist in her own right, has decided to pay homage to the man who changed her life by dedicating 2010, the 200th anniversary of his birth, to a celebration of his work.

She's not just throwing together a program to perform in a few select places, but is taking it on the road to 24 Canadian cities and a number of European venues as well. It's important for Fialkowska, who believes that the Polish composer is sometimes unfairly dismissed by certain critics.