Professor Hubert Rutkowski, one of Germany's youngest professors since 2010, has been the Head of the Piano Department at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg since 2014. He also serves as the artistic director of the Chopin Festival in Hamburg and directs the Theodor Leschetizky International Piano Competition at the Hochschule.

A graduate of the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, where he studied under Anna Jastrzębska-Quinn, Rutkowski later completed postgraduate studies (Konzertexamen) with Evgeni Koroliov at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. He is a winner of the Chopin Piano Competition in Hannover (2007) and received the "Medalla per Unanimitat" at the International Maria Canals Piano Competition in Barcelona (2006). In 2013, he was honored with the prestigious Berenberg Cultural Prize in Hamburg.

Rutkowski has recorded extensively on both modern and historical 19th-century grand pianos, collaborating with renowned artists such as Lilya Zilberstein, Alexei Lubimov, Severin von Eckardstein, Łukasz Borowicz, Martin Haselböck, and Jamie Phillips. His performances span Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the USA, with notable appearances at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Piano Festival in Husum Castle, the Mozart Festival in Warsaw, and the Ars Longa Festival in Moscow.

On March 1, 2021, Rutkowski gave the world premiere of Chopin’s rediscovered 1847 Pleyel piano in Hamburg. His interpretations reflect his deep study of the late 19th-century piano aesthetic, rooted in the traditions of Frederic Chopin, Theodor Leschetizky, and their disciples such as Karol Mikuli, Moritz Rosenthal, Raoul Koczalski, and Artur Schnabel.

A passionate advocate for historical pianos, Rutkowski collaborates with the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg to explore its collection of 19th-century instruments. In 2013, he recorded Debussy’s early works on an 1880 Érard piano for Piano Classics, followed by Chopin’s piano works on an 1847 Pleyel in 2018. He has also recorded compositions by Julian Fontana and Theodor Leschetizky, as well as the album “Pupils of Chopin” (2010) for Naxos, showcasing works by Chopin’s students.

Rutkowski continues to perform at major festivals worldwide, including the Paderewski Festival in Los Angeles, the Artur Rubinstein Festival in Łódź, and the Paderewski International Music Festival in Warsaw. He has collaborated with distinguished soloists and conductors such as Lilya Zilberstein, Severin von Eckardstein, Alexei Lubimov, Łukasz Borowicz, Martin Haselböck, Jamie Phillips, and José Maria Florêncio.