Grzegorz Nowak

Grzegorz Nowak (born 15 August 1951) is a Polish conductor. He has served as music director of the Polish National Opera, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the SWR Radio Orchestra in Kaiserslautern in Germany), and Sinfonia Helvetica and festival Musique & Amitié in Switzerland.

Biography

Grzegorz Nowak is the [http://www.rpo.co.uk/rpo_conductors.php Principal Associate Conductor] of the [http://www.rpo.co.uk Royal Philharmonic Orchestra] in London. Born in Poznań, Poland, he began his international conducting career by winning the first prize at the Ernest Ansermet Conducting Competition in Geneva. He also won the Grand Prix Patek Philippe, Rolex Prize, Swiss Prize, American Patronage Prize and the Europäische Förderpreis für Musik as the European Musician of the Year. Nowak was honoured with the Distinguished Teacher Award during his tenure as Professor at the BGSU University in Ohio, and the title of “Honorary Professor” was bestowed upon him by the University of Alberta.

After studying conducting, composition and violin at the Music Academy in Poznan, Nowak was awarded a doctorate fellowship at the Eastman School of Music. He honed his skills at Tanglewood on a Serge Koussevitzky Fellowship with such masters as Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Erich Leinsdorf and Igor Markevitch, before assisting Kurt Masur with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

In Europe Nowak has worked as a conductor with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Lamoureaux in Paris, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, RAI orchestras in Milan, Rome and Turin, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva, Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich, National Orchestra of Belgium, Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, National Orchestra of Spain and the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon. He has also conducted many times in Scandinavia, performing with the philharmonic and radio orchestras of Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen.

In North America, Nowak has conducted the Montreal Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, San Diego Symphony and Buffalo Philharmonic orchestras. He has also earned critical acclaim for his performances in the Far East and elsewhere with the Philharmonic and Yomiuri Orchestras in Tokyo, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Taipei Philharmonic in Taiwan and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.

Nowak has conducted operatic productions in Italy, Monte Carlo, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the United States and Canada, including works by Mozart ("The Marriage of Figaro", "Don Giovanni", "Il Seraglio", "Così fan Tutte", "The Magic Flute"), Rossini ("The Barber of Seville", "Semiramide"), Beethoven ("Fidelio"), Bizet ("Carmen"), Borodin ("Prince Igor"), Moniuszko ("Halka", "Haunted Manor"), Verdi ("Othello", "Don Carlos" and the Polish première of "Simon Boccanegra") and Puccini ("Madam Butterfly", "La Bohème", "Turandot" and "Tosca" – including a tour with Welsh National Opera). His production of Debussy’s "Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien" was broadcast live from Rome on the Eurovision television network. He received rave reviews at the 2006 Maifestspiele festival in Wiesbaden for conducting Giordano’s "Andrea Chénier," a co-production of the [http://www.teatrwielki.pl/repertuar.php?action=det&id=537 Polish National Opera] with Plácido Domingo and the National Opera in Washington.

His recordings have been highly acclaimed by the press and public alike, winning many awards. Diapason in Paris praised his KOS CD with Martha Argerich and [http://www.sinfoniavarsovia.org Sinfonia Varsovia] as ‘indispensable… un must’, [Diapason Magazine, Paris, November 1999] and the second edition of [http://www.cdaccord.com.pl/album.php?acd=080 this recording] won the Fryderyk Award. The [http://www.cdaccord.com.pl/album.php?acd=019 "Polish Symphonic Music of the XIX Century" recording] with Sinfonia Varsovia won the CD of the Year Award, a nomination for the Fryderyk Award and the Bronze Bell Award in Singapore. The "American Record Guide" praised Nowak’s [http://www.vdegallo.ch/cd_det.asp?NoCD=582 Gallo label CD] of Frank Martin Violin Concerto with [http://www.ccm.uc.edu/performance/Piotr_Milewski.aspx Piotr Milewski] and the [http://www.ccm.uc.edu/performance/Piotr_Milewski.aspx Biel Symphony] as ‘by far the best’. [http://www.ccm.uc.edu/performance/Piotr_Milewski.aspx] Chopin’s [http://www.cdaccord.com.pl/album.php?acd=013 piano concerti with Janusz Olejniczak and Sinfonia Varsovia] won the Fryderyk and CD of the Year awards, and his CD with Stanislaw Drzewiecki and Sinfonia Varsovia was also nominated for the Fryderyk Award. His [http://www.haenssler-classic.de Haenssler-classic] [http://www.haenssler-classic.de/index.php?1094&L= disc] with Anja Silja won two Classical Internet Awards, and his recording of [http://www.haenssler-classic.de/index.php?1094&L= Czerny Symphonies No. 2 and 6] (world premiere recording) received critical acclaim around the world. His CBC [http://www.amazon.com/Electra-Rising-Music-Malcolm-Forsyth/dp/B000003XUJ record with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra] and Amanda Forsyth won the Juno Award, the [http://www.cdaccord.com.pl/album.php?acd=135 CD-Accord recording] with [http://www.kozlowska.pl Joanna Kozlowska] and the Poznan Philharmonic was hailed as ‘superb’ and Gramophone Magazine praised his ASV recording with the London Symphony Orchestra as ‘outstanding’. [Gramophone Magazine, London, 1985, "outstanding … In every way this matches and even outshines the superb account which Sir Georg Solti recorded with the Chicago Orchestra on Decca … the vitality of the piece is superbly caught with the LSO even crisper in articulation than the Chicago players."]

Nowak has performed alongside soloists, including pianists Vladimir Ashkenazy, Angela Hewitt and Anton Kuerti. He has performed many times with Krystian Zimerman, including tours in Switzerland, Italy and Spain. He has accompanied violinists Nigel Kennedy, Joseph Silverstein and Pinchas Zukerman, among ohers. Nowak has worked with several cellists, including Ofra Harnoy and Mstislav Rostropovich. He has collaborated with singers, including Ben Heppner, Marilyn Horne, Gwyneth Jones, [http://www.kathleen-battle.com Kathleen Battle] , [http://www.podles.pl Ewa Podles] and the Swingle Singers.

Discography

*

References

cite web
last = Baker
first = D.T
title = Edmonton Symphony History
publisher = Edmonton Symphony Orchestra website
url = http://www.edmontonsymphony.com/AbouttheESO/HistoryoftheESO/tabid/261/Default.aspx

External links

* [http://www.edmontonsymphony.com/ Edmonton Symphony Orchestra]
* [http://www.teatrwielki.pl/ludzie.php?action=search&type=filter&name=Grzegorz%20Nowak&rodzaj=-1&x=0&y=0&nlang=en Biography on the site of National Opera in Waraw]
* [http://www.maestro.nowak.net/Nowak.net/bioPolish.htm Biography on the official site of Grzegorz Nowak]
* [http://polmic.pl/osopis.php?id=131&pop=wykonawcy&pf=%A0&cf=%A0&nf=wykonawcy Biography on the site of "Polskie Centrum Informacji Muzycznej"]
* [http://www.kamertonet.republika.pl/nowak.html Biography on the site "kamerton"]
* [http://www.sinfoniavarsovia.org Sinfonia Varsovia]
* [http://www.ogb-sob.ch Biel Symphony Orchestra]
* [http://www.orchestre-de-bretagne.com Orchestre de Bretagne]
* [http://www.gavlesymfoniorkester.se Gävle Symphony]
* [http://www.deutscheskammerorchester-frankfurt.com Deutsches Kammerorchester]