Jerzy Kornowicz

Composer, improvisational pianist, teacher, organiser and music campaigner, born in 1959 in Lublin. He studied composition at the Academy of Music in Warsaw under Tadeusz Baird and Marian Borkowski, and at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague under Louis Andriessen. A composer across many genres – an interdisciplinary artist. His works in the field of composed music have been performed in dozens of countries by leading orchestras, ensembles and soloists. Recordings of these works have appeared on albums released by BBC Music, Signum Classic, Polskie Nagrania, Acte Préalable, the „Rozdroża” Centre for Intercultural Creative Initiatives and the Polish Music Information Centre. As a composer, he has been honoured, amongst other things, at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers, and has been nominated for the Opus and Musica Nova awards.

He was the founder of the improvised music group Kawalerowie Błotni, with whom he has performed in many countries. He is involved in creating and curating musical events, including as a programme commissioner for the Audio-Art Festival in Warsaw, the initiator and coordinator of the „Generations” concert series, the „Academy of Sound” concert series in Warsaw schools, author of the music education programme in schools run by the Association for Culture and Education in Warsaw, the originator and organiser of the annual artistic workshops on free improvisation entitled „National Gathering of New and Used Sounds”, and co-founder and artistic director of the KODY Festival of Musical Tradition and Avant-Garde in Lublin. President of the Polish Composers’ Union from 2003 to 2015.