Jacek Błaszczyk

Prof. Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk - director of the Henryk Mikołaj Górecki Silesian Philharmonic

And conductor of the Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra

He graduated with honors from the Academy of Music in Katowice, where he studied conducting in Karol Stryja's class. In 1993, thanks to a scholarship from the American Society for Polish Music, he deepened his conducting skills in Los Angeles. In the period 1984-1986, he conducted a group of musicians from the Katowice Grand Symphony Orchestra of Polish Radio and Television during the Warsaw Autumn and Silesian Days of Contemporary Music festivals. In 1986, he became the artistic director of the State Symphony Orchestra in Zabrze, and in 1990 - the chief artistic director of the State Philharmonic in Białystok, with which he toured the USA (1995; including New York's Carnegie Hall). For two seasons, he was the chief artistic director of the Poznań Philharmonic (1996). Since 2013, he has been the director of the Henryk Mikołaj Górecki Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice, of which he was the artistic director from 1998 to 2013. Since 1999 - artistic director and juror of the Grzegorz Fitelberg International Conductors' Competitions in Katowice. Since 2017, he has also been the artistic director of the Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra.

From 1999-2002, he was the chief conductor of the International Piano Competition in Porto (Portugal), and in 2003 - a juror and conductor at the International Piano Competition in Morocco. Two years later, he was appointed artistic director of the II International Violin Competition in Toruń, and also served in 2013; in the III and IV Toruń competition (2013, 2016), he was also a juror. In 2011, he became the chairman of the jury of the VIII International Cello Competition in Warsaw. He was the chairman of the jury of the VI Nationwide Young Conductors Competition in Białystok (2016).

He performs on all stages in the country, with the National Philharmonic at the forefront and abroad (including Albania, Austria, Belarus, China, Czech Republic, France, Spain, Ireland, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Lithuania, Latvia, Morocco, Mexico, Germany, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Tunisia, Ukraine, and the USA). He has recorded dozens of albums with the Silesian Philharmonic ensembles. Górecki. Mikołaj/Henryk Mikołaj (DUX 0924) was nominated for the Fryderyk 2013. He has many premieres to his credit. The Silesian Philharmonic under his baton were the first performers in Poland of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki's IV Symphony Tansman Episodes, which concluded the cycle of world premieres of this work (2014/2015 London - Los Angeles - Amsterdam - Łódź/Katowice). As the second in the world in 2016, this performance was released on CD. In 2017, a CD with II Copernican Symphony by H.M. Górecki under his baton was released.

For promoting Polish music, with a special emphasis on contemporary music, and for the achievements of the Silesian Philharmonic musicians under his baton, he received the President of the City of Katowice Award in the field of culture. He was also honored with a similar award by the mayor of Rybnik. He is the head of the Symphonic-Operatic Conducting Department at the Academy of Music in Katowice. On August 7, 2012, the President of the Republic of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski, awarded the artist the title of professor of musical arts.