The outstanding Polish piano virtuoso was born in Zabrze in 1956. From the age of five, he took piano lessons from his father, and two years later he became a student of Andrzej Jasiński, who taught young Krystian at the 1st degree Music School in Zabrze, the 2nd degree State Music School named after Karol Szymanowski in Katowice, and at the State Higher Music School also in Katowice. At the age of 17, he won the Music Competition in Hradec Kralove, and 3 years later there was a breakthrough in his career, as not only did he win the 9th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, but he also received an award from Polish Radio for the best performance of mazurkas and from the Fryderyk Chopin Society in Warsaw for the interpretation of polonaise. Thanks to this success, the artist was noticed and Artur Rubinstein himself invited him to Paris. He then performed in important cities in Europe and was chosen as a soloist of the Berlin Philharmonic. In 1988, Krystian Zimerman performed for the first time in Salzburg a piano concerto dedicated to him by Witold Lutosławski. He traveled extensively, giving concerts in Europe, Japan, and the United States. In 1999, he founded the Polish Festival Orchestra, which gave 41 concerts in Europe and the USA to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Chopin's death. He recorded many albums, some of which received international awards for the recording of works by Chopin, Liszt, and Debussy. In 2005, his alma mater awarded him an honorary doctorate.