Rafał Kleszcz started his studies on clarinet at the age of 13 in the Comprehensive Music
School in Dębica (Poland). He is a prize-winner of over thirty national and international
clarinet competitions. One of the most important is the 1st prize in V International Clarinet
Competition in Lisbon.
In 2016 he was the first prize winner of international music competitions like the West
Pomeranian Clarinet Festival in Szczecin, International Wind Instruments Competition in
Warsaw and International Wind Instruments Competition in Wroclaw.
In 2018 he took first place in the International Contemporary Music Competition in Cracow
and also the first place and the Grand Prix Award of the Wind Instruments Festival in Kielce.
In 2019 he won the National Clarinet Competition organized by the Music Education Center
in Warsaw and V International Clarinet Competition in Lisbon. In 2020 he won the
International Wind Instruments Competition in Białystok and took 2 nd place of PIM – Premio
di Interpretazione Musicale Città di Chiavari. He has been selected to 5th International
Clarinet Competition Ghent 2021 and also to The Cluj International Clarinet Competition
2021.
He took part in many masterclasses led by outstanding musicians and teachers, among
others Florent Heau, Jean-Marc Fessard, Stephan Vermeersch, Karel Dohnal, Gabor Varga.
Rafał was a scholarship holder of the Polish Children’s Fund and also a laureate of the Young
Music Academy program organized by the Music Academy in Katowice where he currently
studies in the clarinet class of professor Roman Widaszek.