dr hab. Bassem Akiki

Born in Lebanon, Polish-Lebanese conductor, composer and Doctor of Arts, lecturer at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław and Collegium Civitas in Warsaw, he collaborates with many orchestras and musical theatres around the world.

Bassem Akiki studied philosophy at the Lebanese International University in Beirut. He graduated with honours in choral conducting from the Academy of Music in Krakow in the class of Prof. Stanisław Krawczyński, and with distinction in symphonic and opera conducting from the Academy of Music in Wrocław in the class of Prof. Marek Pijarowski. His education in philosophy allowed Bassem Akiki to analyse the relationship between philosophy and music. After completing his master's thesis on the relationship between Richard Wagner, Friedrich Nietzsche and Richard Strauss, the conductor prepared and defended his doctoral dissertation entitled ‘Anthropocentrism and Theocentrism in 21st-Century Music: The Example of Peter Eötvös' Opera Angels in America’ at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. This opera was performed for the first time in Poland under his baton as part of the Contemporary Opera Festival in October 2012 in Wrocław. Bassem Akiki's musical interests focus on Western and Eastern music, whose mutual influences were the subject of lectures he gave in 2007-2009 at the Philipps University in Marburg (Germany). He has also conducted numerous masterclasses at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, the Opera Academy at the Royal Theatre La Monnaie in Brussels and Swarthmore College in the United States.

Bassem Akiki made his debut at the age of 24, conducting Verdi's La Traviata with the Wrocław Opera, where he was conductor until 2013. In 2013, he began his solo career with the premiere of Tchaikovsky's Iolanta and Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle by B. Bartók at the Grand Theatre – National Opera in Warsaw, where the first premiere performance was conducted by Valery Giergiev and the second by Bassem Akiki. The artist has a rich symphonic repertoire and conducts such opera works as: ‘Così fan tutte’, ‘Don Giovanni’ and ‘The Magic Flute’ by W.A. Mozart; ‘La Traviata’, ‘Rigoletto’, ‘Falstaff’ and ‘Nabucco’ by G. Verdi; “Carmen” by G. Bizet; ‘Die Frau ohne Schatten’ and ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ by R. Strauss; The Tales of Hoffmann by J. Offenbach; La Bohème and Turandot by G. Puccini; Boris Godunov by M. Mussorgsky; Mother of Black-Winged Dreams by H. Kulenty, La libertà chiama la libertà by E. Knapik.

In addition to the classical repertoire, Bassem Akiki prepares and conducts world premieres of works by contemporary composers. In 2012, he prepared and conducted the world premiere of the opera Slow Man by N. Lens/J. M Coetzee at the Grand Theatre in Poznań. In 2014, he made his debut at the La Monnaie Theatre in Brussels, preparing the premiere of Shell Shock by N. Lens/N. Cave, performed in 2018 with the Philharmonie de Radio France orchestra at the Philharmonie de Paris during the global celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. In February 2015, he prepared and conducted the world premiere of the opera Medúlla with music by Björk at the Royal Opera House in Brussels, and in 2019, the premiere of Frankenstein by M. Grey, with music by Bassem Akika, took place. His career development has brought an expansion of his repertoire with further award-winning performances: Ch. Gounod's Romeo and Juliet – Golden Mask for the best opera performance in 2017 in the Silesian Province.

Bassem Akiki is a guest conductor at opera houses and philharmonic halls in Poland (Grand Theatre – National Opera in Warsaw, Sinfonia Varsovia, National Forum of Music NFM in Wrocław, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic in Białystok, Philharmonic in Szczecin, Łódź and others) and abroad (La Monnaie Royal Opera in Brussels, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Philharmonic in Paris, Konzerthaus concert hall in Vienna, Opera in Amsterdam, theatres in Madrid and Uruguay).

From January 2016 to January 2020, he was artistic director of the NFM New Year Festival in Wrocław. In 2016, he was nominated for the most important opera award, the International Opera Awards 2016, in the category ‘Best Conductor of the Young Generation’. In 2018–2019, he was artistic director at the Silesian Opera in Bytom. While working at the Silesian Opera, he won the 12th Jan Kiepura Theatre Music Awards in 2018 in the category of best conductor.

In 2020, the Fryderyk Award in the category of the most outstanding recording of Polish music and the Album of the Year in the Symphonic Music category went to the album 100 NA 100. MUZYCZNE DEKADY WOLNOŚCI (100 FOR 100. MUSICAL DECADES OF FREEDOM) with works recorded under the direction and baton of Bassem Akiki, among others.

In 2020-2022, he served as music director of the Wrocław Opera.

The world premiere of Bassem Akiki's composition ‘Huis Clos – piekło to inni’ (Huis Clos – Hell is Other People) took place on 27 August 2020 at the 20th Sinfonia Varsovia Swojemu Miastu Festival in Warsaw.

Following the success of this work, the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw commissioned ‘Huis Clos II – still in hell’, which was premiered at the W. Lutosławski Concert Studio in Warsaw on 17 October 2021. The world premiere of Bassem Akika's first opera, Amor Fati, commissioned by the Royal Opera La Monnaie, will take place in Brussels in 2024.

photo: K. Bork