Antoni Wit
Antoni Wit (born February 7, 1944) is a Polish conductor, composer, lawyer and professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. Between 2002 and 2013, he served as the artistic director of the National Philharmonic in Warsaw.
Life and career
Wit was born in Kraków.[1] He graduated from the Kraków conservatory (then called Państwowa Wyższa Szkola Muzyczna) in 1967. He studied conducting under Henryk Czyż and composition under Krzysztof Penderecki. He went on to study in Paris under Nadia Boulanger (1967–68). In 1969, he also graduated in law from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.[2]
From 2002 to 2013 he was music director of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. He also collaborated with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra in Pamplona 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.[3]
He has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Zürich Tonhalle Orchestra, the Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, and in London the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and London Philharmonic Orchestra. He has recorded over 90 albums, most of them for the Naxos label, and many of them with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra 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, Wojciech Kilar, Krzysztof Meyer, Witold Lutosławski, Karol Szymanowski and Krzysztof Penderecki, whose Polish Requiem he recorded in 2004. Wit received a Cannes Classical Award for his album of Olivier Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony; his recording of Bedřich Smetana's Má vlast cycle was also very well received.[4]
He currently teaches at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw.
Selected awards and honours
- Grand Prix du Disque de la Nouvelle Académie, (1983)
- Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, (1985)
- Polish Radio's Diamond Baton Award, (1998)
- Fryderyk Award for Album of the Year - Symphonic Music, (2002)
- Cannes Classical Award, (2002)
- Gold Medal of the Artur Rubinstein Foundation, (2002)
- Fryderyk Award for Album of the Year - Symphonic Music, (2005)
- Fryderyk Award for Album of the Year - Contemporary Music, (2005)
- Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, (2006)
- Gramophone Editor's Choice, (2007)
- Gramophone Editor's Choice, (2008)
- BBC Music Magazine Editor's Choice, (2008)
- BBC Music Magazine Editor's Choice, (2009)
- Karol Szymanowski Foundation Award, (2010)
- Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta, (2011)[5]
- Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium, (2013)
- Knight of Legion of Honour, (2015)[6]
See also
References
- ^ "Antoni Wit obchodzi 50-lecie pracy artystycznej". Dzieje.pl. Polska Agencja Prasowa. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
- ^ "Antoni Wit". Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra Under Wit’s Baton, culture.pl, 07.05.2013
- ^ "Antoni Wit". Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ "M.P. 2012 poz. 282". Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ "Dyrygent Antoni Wit odznaczony francuską Legią Honorową". Retrieved 12 November 2019.
External links
- Faculty biography from the Frederyk Chopin Academy of Music
- Naxos artist biography
- Biography from the Warsaw Philharmonic
- Biography at culture.pl
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
