Antoni Wit

Antoni Wit, one of the most highly regarded Polish conductors, studied conducting with Henryk Czyz and composition with Krzysztof Penderecki at the Academy of Music in Kraków, subsequently continuing his studies with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. He also graduated in law at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Immediately after completing his studies he was engaged as an assistant at the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra by Witold Rowicki and was later appointed conductor of the Poznań Philharmonic, collaborated with the Warsaw Grand Theatre, and from 1974 to 1977 was artistic director of the Pomeranian Philharmonic, before his appointment as director of the Polish Radio and Television Orchestra and Choir in Kraków, from 1977 to 1983. From 1983 to 2000 he was managing and artistic director of the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, and from 1987 to 1992 he was the chief conductor and then first guest conductor of Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria. In 2002 he became managing and artistic director of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.

His international career has brought engagements with major orchestras throughout Europe, the Americas and the Near and Far East. He has made over 180 records, including an acclaimed release for Naxos of the piano concertos of Prokofiev, awarded the Diapason d’Or and Grand Prix du Disque de la Nouvelle Académie du Disque. In January 2002 his recording of the Turangalîla Symphony by Olivier Messiaen (8.554478–79 (Amazon ASIN B00004WJVS)) was awarded the Cannes Classical Award in Midem Classic 2002. In 2004 he received the Classical Internet Award. He has completed for Naxos a CD series of Szymanowski’s symphonic and large-scale vocal-instrumental works, each rated among ‘discs of the month’ by CD magazines (Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine). He also received the Record Academy Award 2005 of Japanese music magazine Record Geijutsu for Penderecki’s Polish Requiem (Naxos), and four Fryderyk Awards of the Polish Phonographic Academy. He has received six GRAMMY® nominations for Penderecki’s St Luke Passion – 2004 (8.557149 (Amazon ASIN B0000DJEM2)), A Polish Requiem – 2005 (8.557386–87 (Amazon ASIN B000675OFS)), Seven Gates of Jerusalem – 2007 (8.557766 (Amazon ASIN B000I2IUTS)), Utrenja – 2009 (8.572031 (Amazon ASIN B001U1L9UI)) and Karol Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater – 2008 (8.570724 (Amazon ASIN B001DELX9Y)) and Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4 – 2009 (8.570722 (Amazon ASIN B001U1L9RG)). In 2010 Antoni Wit won the annual award of the Karol Szymanowski Foundation for his promotion of the music of Szymanowski in his Naxos recordings. Antoni Wit is professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.

Antoni Wit was one of the featured artists in Mahler’s Complete Symphonies (Naxos 8.501502 (Amazon ASIN B0037TTQ7E), 15-CD box set) and a UK-only release Chill With Collection (Naxos 8.501046 (Amazon ASIN), 10-CD box set).