Marzena Lilian Szlaga, born and educated in Poland, holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance and pedagogy from the School of Music at Uniwersytet Wrocławski. She continued her studies in the United States, earning a Master of Music degree from the Chicago Musical College at Roosevelt University in 1995.

Among her distinguished teachers were renowned pianists Włodzimierz Obidowicz, Halina Czerny-Stefańska, Barbara Hesse-Bukowska, Victor Mierzhanov, Paweł Chęciński, and Lidia Grychtołówna—who remains an active and inspiring piano legend at the age of 97. The pedagogical lineage of many of her teachers traces back to Carl Mikuli, one of Frédéric Chopin’s most prominent students.

Ms. Szlaga has performed piano concertos by Anton Rubinstein, Edvard Grieg, and Ignacy Jan Paderewski with the symphony orchestras of Opole and Wrocław. She has appeared widely as a soloist, collaborator, and chamber musician throughout Europe and North America. She was a member of the prestigious Civic Symphony Orchestra of Chicago and has performed as a chamber musician at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall. In addition to numerous recitals, she has been featured frequently as both performer and speaker in live radio broadcasts in the United States and abroad.

Deeply committed to the Polish community, Ms. Szlaga has been a longtime member of the Polish Home Association, where she has organized annual Chopin birthday recitals with her students since 2000. In 2022, she was among the organizers of a successful fundraiser to acquire a high-quality Steinway piano for the Polish Home.

In 2010, she prepared the local choir Vivat Musica! for a series of concerts with Piotr Rubik’s Santo Subito ensemble; according to Rubik himself, it was the best-prepared Polonia choir of his North American tour. In November 2018, she initiated and co-organized an all-Chopin recital by Janusz Olejniczak at Seattle Symphony, commemorating the centenary of Poland’s regaining independence.

Her extensive teaching career includes faculty positions as a piano instructor and theory teacher at the Wrocław Conservatory, the Beverly Arts Center School of the Arts in Chicago, and other institutions.

Today, Ms. Szlaga maintains a thriving piano studio in Kirkland, Washington. Her students have been accepted into leading music programs across the United States, including Berklee College of Music, Yale School of Music, and the Oberlin Conservatory. She remains an active performer in the region, presenting solo and chamber recitals, accompanying ensembles, conducting masterclasses, and serving as a principal organizer of the entertainment program for the Seattle Polish Festival.