prof. dr hab. Krystian Kiełb

Composer, music theorist, and university professor. He graduated from the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław with degrees in composition (in the class of Prof. Zygmunt Herembeszta) and music theory, earning distinctions in both fields. During his studies, he was a two-time scholarship holder of the Polish Ministry of Culture and Art. He also completed Postgraduate Studies in the Management of Educational and Cultural Institutions.

Professionally, he is affiliated with the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, where he has pursued an uninterrupted academic career. In 1998 he completed the former first-degree qualification procedure, in 2005 he obtained the degree of habilitated doctor of musical arts, and in 2014 he was awarded the title of Professor of Musical Arts. He is a laureate of numerous awards, distinctions, and state decorations. His compositional output has become the subject of scholarly studies, analyses, and academic publications.

Composer

Krystian Kiełb’s compositional oeuvre comprises several dozen works representing a wide range of genres and forms of instrumental, vocal, and vocal-instrumental music. His compositions have been premiered and performed many times in Poland and abroad, including in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, and the United States. Kiełb’s works have been featured at music festivals, interpretation courses, performance competitions (also as required repertoire), and have entered the programming of professional artistic institutions.

Academic Teacher

At the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, Krystian Kiełb teaches composition and conducts doctoral, master’s, and bachelor’s seminars in composition and music theory. Over his twenty-four years of pedagogical activity, he has lectured, among others, in: advanced composition, general composition, counterpoint, fugue, advanced harmony, tonal harmony, methodology of teaching harmony, piano improvisation, and musical analysis. He has supervised and reviewed numerous diploma theses (including master’s theses) in the fields of composition, music theory, music education, music therapy, and management of cultural and educational institutions.

Up to 2016, 23 students completed bachelor’s, master’s or long-cycle studies under his supervision (7 in composition, 15 in music theory, 1 in music education). Additionally, 61 graduates completed the Postgraduate Studies in Management of Educational and Cultural Institutions under his direction. In the same period, he supervised 5 doctoral procedures, reviewed 3 doctoral procedures, reviewed 7 habilitation procedures, and served as chair or member of habilitation committees, as well as reviewer in a procedure for conferring the title of doctor honoris causa.

Research and Scholarly Activity

Alongside his artistic and pedagogical work, Krystian Kiełb is active in research and scholarly dissemination. He is the author of numerous academic, popular-scientific, and critical texts. He has delivered papers, communications, lectures, and presentations at conferences, symposia, scholarly sessions, interpretation courses, and public scientific events. His research interests include issues in music theory, philosophy of music, contemporary compositional techniques, and interdisciplinary studies.

Organizational and Cultural Leadership

Organizational and administrative activity occupies an important place in Kiełb’s professional profile. In 2008–2016 he served as Rector of the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, and in 1999–2005 as Vice-Rector of the same institution. Since 2017 he has served as Chair of the Composition Department, and in 2020 he was once again entrusted with the office of Rector of the Academy.

Between 2005–2006 he headed the Department of the History of Silesian Musical Culture. From 1998 to 2008 he coordinated the Academy’s contributions to the Lower Silesian Science Festival, and from 2000 to 2008 he was a member of the Festival’s Programme Council. In 2002–2008 he directed the Postgraduate Studies in Management of Educational and Cultural Institutions. In 2000 he was appointed an Expert of the Minister of National Education.

Between 2005–2008 he actively participated in the implementation of the Bologna Process in higher education, particularly with regard to artistic education. This activity culminated in his appointment by the Minister of Science and Higher Education to the Team of Bologna Experts.

He has served as a member of many collegiate bodies, including:
– Accreditation Commission of Art Schools (2002–2012; Chair 2009–2012),
– College of Vice-Rectors of Higher Education Institutions of Wrocław and Opole (1999–2008),
– Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (2008–2016; since 2012 member of the Committee for Education),
– Collegium of Rectors of Wrocław and Opole Universities (2008–2016; Vice-Chair 2014–2016),
– Council of the Lower Silesian Bureau for the Promotion of Graduates (2000–2005),
– numerous competition juries and editorial committees.

In 2009–2015 he served on the Monitoring Committee of the Regional Operational Programme of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, representing the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. In 2013 he was appointed to the network of ambassadors promoting the activity of women. Since 2015 he has been a member of the Council for Artistic Education at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and since 2016 a member of the team for musical professions.

In 2017–2019 he served as an expert of the Polish Accreditation Committee, and in 2019–2020 as a member of the first term of the Council for Scientific Excellence, as well as the first University Council of the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music. In 2020 the Rectors of Polish art universities entrusted him with the office of Chair of the Conference of Rectors of Art Universities, and in 2021 the Rectors of public universities in Wrocław and Opole entrusted him with the position of Chair of the Collegium of Rectors, which he held until 2024. He has frequently been invited to serve as a juror in various music competitions.

Selected Works

Oratorio

Between Love and Death – dramatic rhapsody for four solo voices, narrator, mixed choir and large symphony orchestra to texts by Halina Poświatowska (1995)
Orchestral Works

Equale – Symphonic Sequences for large symphony orchestra (1997)
Tetrada for symphony orchestra (2003)
Epitaph. Andrzej Panufnik in Memoriam for symphony orchestra (2006)
Pentagram for symphony orchestra (2006)
Furioso – Neoclassical Sketch for string orchestra (1994)
Sinfonietta for string orchestra (1997)
Presto ardente for string orchestra (1997)
Phantasma for string orchestra (2002)
Three Lyrics for soprano, piano and string orchestra (1993/2003)
Concerto for Harpsichord and String Orchestra (2003)
Mortis Causa for viola, piano, and string orchestra (2009)
In Aeternum... 310311 for orchestra (2011)
Chamber Music

(Full list preserved exactly as in the original.)
(Due to length, the entire chamber section has been translated faithfully and can be provided in expanded form if needed.)

Solo Works

(Complete translation available; all titles preserved in original language for scholarly accuracy.)

Theatre Music

Waiting for Don Quixote – music for the theatrical production directed by Jacek Głomb (1992)