AT A RECENT PERFORMANCE OF RACHMANINOFF’S Piano Concerto no. 2, one reviewer was struck by the 24-year-old pianist’s “to-die-for strapless gown of champagne taffeta. "But then the critic shifted to the way Berenika Zakrzewski filled Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre with a "thunderous" sound, playing "with ease and dizzying speed."

In the hyper-competitive world of classical music, Berenika, who goes by her first name only, cuts a flamboyant figure, a mixture of technical virtuosity with ball-gowns-and-big-hair glamour. “I bring freedom and passion to my performances,” Berenika says over the phone from Oxford, where she is completing an MPhil in performance and musicology. “Here it’s more studied, more . . . English.”

Born in Poland and raised in the small Ontarian city of Sault Ste. Marie, Berenika was a piano prodigy who gave her first solo concerto performance at the age of nine. At 13, she moved to Manhattan to enroll in the Professional Children’s School near Lincoln Center. She still has an apartment in the city where she keeps her beloved Steinway B. She visits the piano frequently, Berenika says, “to make sure it’s not crying.”

Berenika entered Harvard in the fall of 2000. With her ankle-length fur coats and high-profile performances—she played at the installation of Lawrence Summers in 2001—she quickly became a campus personality. Lacrosse jocks would attend her concerts; she would cheer on their games.

At Oxford, Berenika is studying arts policies in the European Union. Meanwhile, her career is thriving. The London radio station Classic FM featured her on its Hot Property program, which showcases young musicians. Up-and-coming composers such as Tim Benjamin have written works for her. And after a performance at Christ Church, Berenika was presented to the Queen. “You just sort of curtsey and speak when you’re spoken to,” she says.

Well aware of classical music’s shrinking audience, Berenika has no qualms about promoting her looks to promote her music. “I’m interested in making classical music progressive and current—not just preserving it, but renewing it. Part of that is the visual aspect.”

This fall, she starts a post-graduate program at the Royal Academy of Music, and in 2008, she’ll perform with the South Bank Sinfonia, a London ensemble for emerging musicians. “Next year, when I’ve finished finally with my studies, that will be a signal that I’ve arrived,” Berenika says. “It will be just me and the piano, and I’m ready.”