Krzysztof Penderecki, composer/conductor
Born in Debica, Poland in 1933, Krzysztof Penderecki is one of the most esteemed and widely discussed composers of our time. The development of his compositional style has reflected the evolution of new music from the avant-garde of the 1960s up to the present day, through which time he has preserved his own distinct voice. 

Like other leading composers of our century, Mr. Penderecki has also built a reputation as a conductor. In Europe he has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic as well as orchestras in France, England, Italy, Austria, Sweden and Switzerland. His American appearances have included performances with the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony (most recently in 2002) and the Philadelphia Orchestra, among others.  He currently serves as Principal Guest Conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg and of the MDR Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig. He became Music Director of the Sinfonia Varsovia (Warsaw Symphony) in 1997 and has been Artistic Director of the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico since 1992.  He has also served as artistic adviser of the Beijing Music Festival since 1998.

Among the numerous awards and prizes Mr. Penderecki has won are the UNESCO Award, the Crystal Award (from Davos, Switzerland), the Great Art Award of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Prix Italia (both in 1967 and 1968), the Prix Artur Honegger, the Sibelius Prize, the Premio Lorenzo Magnifico, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition and a Grammy Award, among many others.  In 1998 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has also received two Emmy nominations for the A&E Network broadcasts from the Casals Festival. Nine universities, among them Glasgow, Madrid and Belgrade, have conferred honorary doctorates on Mr. Penderecki.

From 1972 to 1979, Mr. Penderecki was director of the Krakow High School of Music, and from 1973 to 1978 he taught at Yale University, as well. He is an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, and bears the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and has recently been named Freeman of the City of Strasbourg.