St Nicholas Church Piano Recital with Theme of Love and Longing

Joanna Kacperek to perform in afternoon concert

Acclaimed pianist Joanna Kacperek

September 11, 2026

St Nicholas Church in Chiswick will host a piano recital on Sunday 20 September at 3pm, presenting a programme built around the theme of love and longing. The concert will be given by the acclaimed pianist Joanna Kacperek featuring works from composers from Beethoven to Rachmaninoff revealing how these emotions have been transformed across generations.

The programme opens with Beethoven’s Sonata in F sharp major, Op. 78, known as the “à Thérèse” sonata, a work of lyrical intimacy and quicksilver energy. It continues with two of Chopin’s Mazurkas from Op. 6, pieces that blend dance rhythms with a sense of nostalgia and emotional depth. Chaminade’s Poèmes Provençaux follow, offering four contrasting character pieces that evoke landscapes, solitude, the passage of time and nocturnal stillness. Liszt’s Sonetto 104 del Petrarca brings a more overtly romantic voice, inspired by Petrarch’s poetry, before the recital closes with two of Rachmaninoff’s Moments Musicaux, works that combine virtuosity with a powerful sense of longing.

Joanna Kacperek has established an international career as both a soloist and chamber musician, performing throughout Europe, Canada and Japan. She has appeared with ensembles including the Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic in Warsaw and the Lviv Virtuosos Chamber Orchestra, and in 2025 performed for King Charles III during his visit to London’s Polish Social and Cultural Association. Her debut solo album, Variations, released in 2024 on Rubicon Classics, received enthusiastic reviews and was featured on Polish National Radio. Her second album, In Plain Sight, released in May 2026, has attracted international attention from broadcasters and critics, with coverage from BBC Radio 3, Austria’s ORF, ABC Classic in Australia, RNZ Concert in New Zealand, Polish Radio 2 and several American classical stations. The album entered the UK Official Classical Chart and received critical acclaim from publications including BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone and Music Web International.

She is a prizewinner of numerous competitions, including the special prize at the Edvard Grieg Piano Competition in Bergen and the Titanic Memoriam Pianist Prize at the Lies Askonas Competition. She has won the International Beethoven Chamber Music Competition, the B. Smetana Competition in Pilsen and the M. Magin Competition in Paris. In 2024 she debuted at Wigmore Hall, where she won the Jean Meikle Prize for best duo with Clara Barbier Serrano at the Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition. Their duo has also been awarded prizes in Stuttgart and Lyon and continues to perform at major European festivals. Kacperek graduated with honours from the Royal College of Music in London and holds a master’s degree from the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.

Tickets are available on the door, priced at ten pounds, with a reduced rate of five pounds for students. After the recital, audiences are invited to stay for tea and cake, served in the church for five pounds. Payments can be made by cash or card, and all profits from the event will support emerging young musicians at St Nicholas Church.

St Nicholas Church is at Church Street, W4 2PJ.