Zygmunt Krauze

Zygmunt Krauze was born on 19th September 1938 in Warsaw. He studied piano with Maria Wilkomirska and composition with Kazimierz Sikorski at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw gaining diplomas in each subject in 1962 and 1964 respectively. After that he studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger (1966-67) as a holder of French government scholarship.

Zygmunt Krauze has given solo performances since 1963. In 1967 he founded The Warsaw Music Workshop ensemble and served as its artistic director and pianist for over twenty years. The Ensemble commissioned works from more than 100 composers throughout the world. Zygmunt Krauze also maintained a solo career and has worked with many of the great orchestras and conductors in the world such as: Gary Bertini, Jan Krenz, Leif Sagerstam, Kaziemierz Kord, Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Bohdan Wodiczko, Paul Zukofsky, Ernest Bour, Hans Zender, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Luca Pfaff and many others.

Zygmunt Krauze's works have been performed on various music festivals around the world (including: Autumne de Paris; Musica, Strasbourg, Holland Festival; ISCM World Music Days; Warsaw Autumn) and in many world-known concert halls such as: Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft; Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; Bellas Artes, Mexico City; Suntory Hall, Tokyo; Palais de Festival, Cannes; Beethovenhalle, Bonn. His works were commissioned by: Ministry of Culture, Warsaw; Österreichischer Rundfunk; Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Köln; Südwestfunk Radio, Baden Baden; Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon; Ministere de la Culture, Paris; Radio France; Polish Radio. His operas were produced by following theatres: Hamburgische Staatsoper; Grand Opera Theater, Warsaw; Wroclaw Opera; Theatre National de la Colline, Paris; Nationaltheater, Mannheim; Warsaw Chamber Opera.

Many of his artistic activities took place outside Poland. Between 1974-75 he resided in Berlin as artist in residence at the invitation of DAAD (Deutsche Akademischer Austauschdienst). In 1982 he was invited by Pierre Boulez to become a musical advisor to IRCAM in Paris. Between 1983-84 he produced weekly avant-grade music broadcasts for Radio France Musique. He is the co-author of a series of educational TV films The Creation of Music (1986) for which he was awarded the prize of the President of the Polish Radio and TV (1987), as well as a series of twenty musical TV films Sound and Silence (1988-89).

Since 1965 he has given seminars as well as master classes of composition and contemporary music performance both in Poland and abroad, including prestigious centers of new music in Europe (Darmstadt, Basle, Stockholm), in the United States of America (Indiana University in Bloomington, Yale University in New Heaven, University of Southern California in Santa Barbara), Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe) and Jerusalem (Rubin Academy of Music), Academy for performing Arts (Hong Kong). In 1996 he was nominated as an Eminent Corresponding Professor at Keimyung University, Daegu, South Korea. From 2002 he is professor of composition at the Music Academy in Lodz, Poland.

Zygmunt Krauze has fulfilled many public functions, contributing to the revival of the Polish Society for Contemporary Music in 1980 and serving as its president for twenty years. He served on the repertoire committee of the Warsaw Autumn Festival from 1970-81. In 1987 he was elected president of the International Society for Contemporary Music at the congress in Frankfurt. From 1993-2001, he was a member of the Grand Prix chapter of the Cultural Foundation in Warsaw and from 1993-98, a member of the music council of Polish Radio. From 1995-97, he served as an artistic advisor to the French ambassador to Poland and since 1997 as a music advisor to the Kronenberg Bank Foundation in Warsaw. He is also a regular jury member at international composition competitions, as well as those for performance, throughout the world. Since 2003, he has served as president of the Witold Lutoslawski Society.

Among his honors are First Prize in the All-Polish Contemporary Piano Music Competition in Lodz (1957), Second Prize in the youth competition of the Polish Composers Union (1965), First Prize in the Gaudeamus Performers Competition (1966), He has also received the Silver Cross of Merit of Poland (1975), the Medal of Distinction from Jeunesses Musicales in Poland (1979).

In addition, he was named a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France (1984) and the Prize of the Polish Composers Union (1988). He has also received the Prize of the Ministry of Culture in Poland (1989), the Chopin Gold Medal from the Chopin Foundation (1994), Golden Cross of Merit of Poland (2004) and Annual Prize of the Polish Ministry of Culture (2005). In 1999 he was elected an honorary member of International Society for Contemporary Music.