Performers
Jan Krenz
Pupil of Zbigniew Drzewiecki (piano) and Kazimierz Sikorski (composition) under the German occupation, he made his debut as a composer in 1943, and as a conductor – in 1946. In the following year he graduated from Warsaw’s State Higher School of Music (now the Chopin University), where he had studied conducting with Kazimierz Wiłkomirski and composition with Kazimierz Sikorski.
In 1947–1949 Krenz was a conductor at Poznań Philharmonic. From 1949 he was associated with the Great Symphony Orchestra of Polish Radio in Katowice (first as Grzegorz Fitelberg’s assistant, and later, in 1953–1968, as its director and conductor).
Until 1972 he directed Warsaw’s Teatr Wielki (premièring, among others, Verdi’s Otello and R. Strauss’s Elektra). He was a conductor of the Danish Radio Orchestra in Copenhagen and of Tokyo’s Yomiuri Nippon Symphony. From 1972 he held the post of general music director of the city of Bonn, also directing the Orchester der Beethovenhalle. He collaborated with the Radio Netherlands Worldwide in Hilversum. In 2005–2008 he was the director and conductor of Krakow Philharmonic.
His output of compositions comprises symphonic, chamber, vocal music, as well as film soundtracks (for Andrzej Wajda’s Kanal, among others). With Tadeusz Baird and Kazimierz Serocki, he was a member of Group ’49.
His prestigious accolades include: the Diamond Baton (1995), the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis (2005), and Coryphaeus of Polish Music (2011).
In 1947–1949 Krenz was a conductor at Poznań Philharmonic. From 1949 he was associated with the Great Symphony Orchestra of Polish Radio in Katowice (first as Grzegorz Fitelberg’s assistant, and later, in 1953–1968, as its director and conductor).
Until 1972 he directed Warsaw’s Teatr Wielki (premièring, among others, Verdi’s Otello and R. Strauss’s Elektra). He was a conductor of the Danish Radio Orchestra in Copenhagen and of Tokyo’s Yomiuri Nippon Symphony. From 1972 he held the post of general music director of the city of Bonn, also directing the Orchester der Beethovenhalle. He collaborated with the Radio Netherlands Worldwide in Hilversum. In 2005–2008 he was the director and conductor of Krakow Philharmonic.
His output of compositions comprises symphonic, chamber, vocal music, as well as film soundtracks (for Andrzej Wajda’s Kanal, among others). With Tadeusz Baird and Kazimierz Serocki, he was a member of Group ’49.
His prestigious accolades include: the Diamond Baton (1995), the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis (2005), and Coryphaeus of Polish Music (2011).
