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SŁAWOMIR CHRZANOWSKI

5 October 2023

Conductor, since 1990 chief and artistic director of the Zabrze Philharmonic. Studied music at the Academy of Music in Katowice – graduated in 1986 in Music Theory, and Symphony Conducting in 1989 in the class of Professor Karol Stryja. In 1985–1990 he led the chamber orchestra and symphony orchestra of the State Secondary School of Music in Katowice, with which he participated in international music festivals (Chamber Orchestra Festival in Ahrensburg or “Musica senza frontiere” in Bologna). In 1987 he took part in the International Course for Young Conductors in Weimar (under Prof. Kurt Sanderling), where he conducted the final concert. In 1991, he participated in the International Conducting Competition in Trento. Together with the orchestra he has given more than 2800 concerts on various stages in Poland and abroad.

He conducted at such events as: “Gaude Mater” in Częstochowa, “Viva il canto” in Cieszyn, Trnava Music Spring, “Chopin Festival” in Gaming, Austria, “Pro Baltica” in Toruń. He has conducted cyclical events many times – “Nieszpory ludźmierskie” or “Koncert Trzech Polskich Teonrów”. He has conducted concerts more than 90 times, including great charity events, with the participation of the greatest Polish tenor Wiesław Ochman. He has made over a dozen CD recordings, as well as archive recordings for Polskie Radio and Telewizja Polska. With his orchestra, he has performed in Russia, Germany, Czech Republic, Japan and  Slovakia. In the 1991–1995 timeframe he was the Artistic Director of the Rybnik Philharmonic. He has conducted over 70 orchestras around the world, including the majority of Polish philharmonic and chamber orchestras (with which he still cooperates on a regular basis), as well as the NOSPR in Katowice and the Cracow Radio Symphony Orchestra. He regularly performs with orchestras from the Czech Republic – including the Ostrava Philharmonic and the Moravian Philharmonic in Olomouc – as well as with opera ensembles in Cracow, Bytom, Łódź and Lviv, among others.

He collaborates with musical theatres, in 2006 he prepared the premiere of Lehar’s “The Merry Widow” in Warsaw, and in 2019 Bernstein’s “Candide” in Cracow. During his concerts, he performed many world premieres of works (including those by Bogusław Schaeffer, Romuald Twardowski, Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz and Gheorge Zamphir). He accompanied the biggest stars of the Polish opera scene. He visited the USA several times, where, apart from concerts, he gave open lectures for students on the history of Polish music, as well as conducting masterclasses (Northwestern University Chicago and Mary Washington College Fredericksburg). He is a honorary conductor of the MWC Symphony Orchestra in Fredericksburg (USA). In 2002, he performed in famous concert halls in America – Carnegie Hall in New York with a concert of Polish music and Orchestra Hall in Chicago with a concert of “Trzech Polskich Tenorów”, inaugurating a new concert season of the Paderewski Symphony Orchestra. He is a juror of national and international music competitions, and the winner of many awards and distinctions (including the Golden Laurel of Skills and Competence, the Golden Badge – Merit for the Silesian Voivodeship and the Merit to Culture Gloria Artis Medal).

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