Performers
Gabriel Chmura
Gabriel Chmura was one of Poland’s most distinguished conductors. He was born in Wrocław in 1946 and grew up in Israel, where he studied conducting, piano and composition at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv. He continued his conducting studies with Pierre Dervaux, Hans Swarowsky, and Franco Ferrara. He died in 2020.
A breakthrough in his career came in 1971, when he won first prize at the Herbert von Karajan Competition in Berlin and the Gold Medal at the Cantelli Competition in Milan.
Opera occupied a particularly important place in his conducting activity. From 1974 to 1983 he was Music Director of Theater Aachen; he then held music directorships with the Bochumer Symphoniker and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. From 2001 to 2007 he was Artistic Director of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, and from 2012 Artistic Director of the Grand Theatre in Poznań. He appeared on the most prestigious musical stages, conducting, among others, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestre National de France. His extensive discography won critical acclaim.
It includes recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, CBS, Orfeo, and Chandos. He was one of the most important ambassadors of the music of Mieczysław Weinberg.
He was honoured, among other distinctions, with the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis.
A breakthrough in his career came in 1971, when he won first prize at the Herbert von Karajan Competition in Berlin and the Gold Medal at the Cantelli Competition in Milan.
Opera occupied a particularly important place in his conducting activity. From 1974 to 1983 he was Music Director of Theater Aachen; he then held music directorships with the Bochumer Symphoniker and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. From 2001 to 2007 he was Artistic Director of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, and from 2012 Artistic Director of the Grand Theatre in Poznań. He appeared on the most prestigious musical stages, conducting, among others, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestre National de France. His extensive discography won critical acclaim.
It includes recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, CBS, Orfeo, and Chandos. He was one of the most important ambassadors of the music of Mieczysław Weinberg.
He was honoured, among other distinctions, with the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis.
