Antoni Wit (born February 7, 1944) is a Polish conductor, composer, lawyer and professor at the

Fryderyk Chopin University of Music The Chopin University of Music ( pl, Uniwersytet Muzyczny Fryderyka Chopina, UMFC) is a musical conservatorium and academy located in central Warsaw, Poland. It is the oldest and largest music school in Poland, and one of the largest in Europe.

. Between 2002 and 2013, he served as the artistic director of the

National Philharmonic in Warsaw The National Philharmonic in Warsaw ( Polish: ''Filharmonia Narodowa w Warszawie'') is a Polish cultural institution, located at 5 Jasna Street in Warsaw. The building was built between 1900 and 1901, under the direction of Karol Kozłowski, ...

Life and career

Wit was born in Kraków. He graduated from the

Kraków conservatory Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

(then called ''Państwowa Wyższa Szkola Muzyczna'') in 1967. He studied conducting under Henryk Czyż and composition under

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', ''Polish Requiem'', ''A ...

. He went on to study in Paris under

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

(1967–68). In 1969, he also graduated in law from the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

in Kraków. From 2002 to 2013 he was

music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

of the

Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra The Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra ( pl, Orkiestra Filharmonii Narodowej w Warszawie) is a Polish orchestra based in Warsaw. Founded in 1901, it is one of Poland's oldest musical institutions. History The orchestra was conceived on ...

. He also collaborated with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra in

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

from the 2010–2011 to the 2016–2017 season, serving as their first guest conductor. In May 2013 he was nominated Artistic Director of the ensemble. He has conducted the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...

, Staatskapelle Dresden, the

Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia) is an Italian symphony orchestra based in Rome. Resident at the Parco della Musica, the orchestra primarily performs its Rome concerts in ...

in Rome, the Zürich Tonhalle Orchestra, the

Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra The Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra or the Symphony Orchestra of the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic ( pl, Orkiestra Symfoniczna Filharmonii im. Karola Szymanowskiego) is a professional symphony orchestra based in Kraków, Poland. The national status ...

, the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, and in London the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, W ...

, and

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

. He has recorded over 90 albums, most of them for the

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best abr ...

label, and many of them with the

Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR), is one of Poland's radio orchestra and premier musical institutions. It was founded in 1935 in Warsaw. In 1945 the orchestra was re-established in Katowice and since 2006 it has become a "Nati ...

in Katowice, whose managing and artistic director he was from 1983 to 2000. He specializes in the works of Polish composers such as

Henryk Górecki Henryk Mikołaj Górecki ( , ; 6 December 1933 – 12 November 2010) was a Polish composer of contemporary classical music. According to critic Alex Ross, no recent classical composer has had as much commercial success as Górecki. He became a l ...

Wojciech Kilar Wojciech Kilar (; 17 July 1932 – 29 December 2013) was a Polish classical and film music composer. One of his greatest successes came with his score to Francis Ford Coppola's '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'' in 1992, which received the ASCAP Award ...

Krzysztof Meyer Krzysztof Meyer (born 11 August 1943) is a Polish composer, pianist, and music scholar, formerly Dean of the Department of Music Theory (1972–1975) at the State College of Music (now Academy of Music in Kraków), and president of the Union of P ...

Witold Lutosławski Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szyman ...

Karol Szymanowski Karol Maciej Szymanowski (; 6 October 188229 March 1937) was a Polish composer and pianist. He was a member of the modernist Young Poland movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century. Szymanowski's early works show the inf ...

and

, whose ''

Polish Requiem ''Polish Requiem'' (original Polish title: '' Requiem''; german: Requiem), also ''A Polish Requiem'', is a large-scale requiem mass for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. The Lacrimosa, dedicated to ...

'' he recorded in 2004. Wit received a Cannes Classical Award for his album of

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...

's '' Turangalîla Symphony''; his recording of

Bedřich Smetana Bedřich Smetana ( , ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival." He has been regarded i ...

's ''

Má vlast ''Má vlast'' (), also known as ''My Fatherland'', is a set of six symphonic poems composed between 1874 and 1879 by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. The six pieces, conceived as individual works, are often presented and recorded as a single ...

'' cycle was also very well received. He currently teaches at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Selected awards and honours

Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and co ...

de la Nouvelle Académie, (1983) *Knight's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...

, (1985) *

Polish Radio Polskie Radio Spółka Akcyjna (PR S.A.; English: Polish Radio) is Poland's national public-service radio broadcasting organization owned by the State Treasury of Poland. History Polskie Radio was founded on 18 August 1925 and began making ...

's ''Diamond Baton Award'', (1998) *

Fryderyk Award The Fryderyk is the annual award in Polish music. Its name refers to the original Polish spelling variant of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's first name. Its status in the Polish public can be compared to the American Grammy and the UK's B ...

for ''Album of the Year - Symphonic Music'', (2002) *

Cannes Classical Award The International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) are music awards first awarded 6 April 2011. ICMA replace the Cannes Classical Awards (later called MIDEM Classical Awards) formerly awarded at MIDEM. The jury consists of music critics of magazines ...

, (2002) *Gold Medal of the

Artur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish-American pianist.

Foundation, (2002) *

for ''Album of the Year - Symphonic Music'', (2005) *

for ''Album of the Year'' - Contemporary Music'', (2005) *

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

, (2006) * Gramophone Editor's Choice, (2007) * Gramophone Editor's Choice, (2008) *

BBC Music Magazine ''BBC Music Magazine'' is a British monthly magazine that focuses primarily on classical music. History The first issue appeared in September 1992. BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC was the original owner and publisher toget ...

Editor's Choice, (2008) *

Editor's Choice, (2009) *

Foundation Award, (2010) *Commander's Cross with Star of the

, (2011) *

Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium The Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium is an honor presented to recording artists for the best compendium album in the classical music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and which was originally called the ...

, (2013) *

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

, (2015)

References

External links

Faculty biography from the Frederyk Chopin Academy of MusicBiography from the Warsaw PhilharmonicBiography at culture.pl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wit, Antoni 1944 births Living people Polish conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Polish music educators 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century male musicians Fulbright alumni

Life and career

Selected awards and honours

See also

References

External links