MA Kazimierz Pyzik

Born on June 10, 1955, in Kraków. He began accordion lessons at an early age, playing in the PIH mandolin orchestra led by Bolesław Sławek, and studied at the First-Level Music School in Kraków under Stanisław Galas. He began studying double bass at the Fryderyk Chopin State Secondary Music School in Kraków with Ryszard Daun and Witold Majewski. Between 1971 and 1974, he also played electric guitar in a beat band during Masses at the Jesuit Church in Kraków.

After graduating in double bass, he continued his studies at the State Higher School of Music (later the Academy of Music) in Kraków under Ryszard Daun, graduating with distinction in 1982. Already in his first year of studies, he was invited to collaborate with Stanisław Gałoński’s chamber orchestra Capella Cracoviensis. He later co-founded the Music Centre Artistic Association (Muzyka Centrum), which continues to organize contemporary music concerts to this day. He also pursued studies in composition (with Marek Stachowski, graduating with distinction in 1984) and music theory (with Aleksander Frączkiewicz, 1984).

Over the years, he developed extensive activity as a performer (approx. 1,700 concerts), both in early music (on viola da gamba, violone, Viennese double bass) and in contemporary music (with cello, double bass, and other instruments). He has performed at major festivals in Poland and abroad, recorded with ensembles including Camerata Cracovia, Ars Cantus, Muzyka Centrum, Olga Szwajgier Quartet, and Ensemble MW2, and composed around 200 works across a wide range of genres.

He studied viola da gamba later, with Hartwig Groth in Nuremberg and Wieland Kuijken in Brussels, where he earned eerste prijs (1994) and hoger diploma (1995). He has taught at several music academies in Poland (Kraków, Poznań, Wrocław) and music schools in Kraków and Wrocław.

As a composer, his output is divided between works in classical forms with tonal systems of his own design, and experimental compositions involving sound material or instrumental theatre. His music has been performed at major festivals in Poland and abroad (Germany, Austria, France, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Canada). He has also led workshops and courses on both contemporary and early music.

He is a member of the Polish Composers’ Union, the Viola da Gamba Society of Great Britain, and the Internationale J. M. Sperger Gesellschaft. In 2019, he received the honorary badge “Meritorious for Polish Culture” from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.