prof. dr hab. Mirosław Gąsieniec

Pianist and composer, he graduated with honours in piano (1979) and composition (1988) from the Academy of Music in Wrocław. In 1972-80, he was a composer, student and private scholarship holder of Witold Lutosławski, and in 1979 and 1980, he was a two-time scholarship holder of the F. Chopin Society in Warsaw as a pianist.

He is a laureate of national and international composition competitions: the National Composition Competition ‘Forum Młodych '77’ in Krakow (1977), the International Composition Competition ‘Jeunesses musicales’ under the chairmanship of Henri Dutilleux in Belgrade (1978), National Composition Competition at the ‘Young Musicians for a Young City’ festival in Stalowa Wola (1979) chaired by K. Penderecki, third prize for the piece ‘Triptych’ for 11 performers, published by Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne PWM Kraków in 1984, International Composition Competition in Bad Orb, Germany (1981).

Composer of piano music, including Etude, Mazurka and virtuoso arrangements of works by F. Liszt, E. Liebling and J. Strauss; chamber music, including Metamorphoses, Triptych for 11 performers, Sinfonietta, Ostinato, Children's Songs, Capriccio, Dialogues; symphonic music Toccata, film music and several oratorio and cantata works: the oratorio Helmuth James von Moltke (1992, CD 1993) inspired by the historic meeting between T. Mazowiecki and H. Kohl in Krzyżowa in 1989, the Baroque-style cantata Święta Jadwiga Śląska (1993), composed at the end of the ‘Year of Jadwiga’ celebrations, ‘Kantata Śląska - Tu się urodziłem’ (1994), composed at the request of the Director of the New York Philharmonic, Maestro Kurt Masur, and premiered by him, the cantata Najwyższy Dar Eucharystia, composed on the occasion of the 46th International Eucharistic Congress in Wrocław, the poem Trostgedich, commissioned by the Neue Lausitzer Philharmonie in connection with the 400th anniversary of the birth of the German Baroque poet Martin Opitz.

In 1985-86, he was a co-founder and pianist of the Wrocław Piano Trio, which gave concerts in Poland and abroad in cooperation with the National Concert Office and Pagart. In the 1990s, he formed a piano duo with German pianist L. Bertok, which performed in Poland and Germany. In 1991-94, he was president of the Polish Composers' Union, Wrocław Branch, and established a concert series under the honorary patronage of the Mayor of Wrocław, ‘Composers' Portraits’, featuring outstanding performers, including the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra conducted by Agnieszka Duczmal and the Silesian Quartet from Katowice. Since 1991, he has been the originator, co-founder and artistic director of the International Silesian Music Festival ‘Porozumienie’, in whose development the world-renowned conductor Maestro Kurt Masur is personally involved. The festival has featured performances by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Philharmonic (1996) and the New York Philharmonic (2000), both conducted by Maestro Kurt Masur.

M. Gąsieniec performs as a pianist and chamber musician in Poland and abroad. In 2000, he recorded a solo CD and in 2001 a CD with K.A. Kulka featuring sonatas by Beethoven and Brahms. In 1990, he was awarded the ‘Distinguished Cultural Activist’ medal by the Minister of Culture and Art for his work as a composer and pianist, and in 2000, on the 25th anniversary of his artistic career, he was awarded the ‘Silver Cross of Merit’ by the President of Poland. He is currently permanently associated with the Chamber Music Department of the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław.