Stanislaw Skrowaczewski

The internationally renowned orchestral conductor and composer Stanislaw Skrowaczewski has received the Minnesota USA-based McKnight Foundation's 2004 Distinguished Artist Award. The US$ 40,000 award is given each year to a working artist whose long career has made a significant impact on the arts in Minnesota and beyond.

Skrowaczewski was born in Poland in 1923 and began playing the piano and violin at the age of four. He composed his first symphonic work when seven and gave his first public recital at eleven. Two years later, he performed and conducted Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto. A hand injury during World War II ended his prospects for a keyboard career and forced him to concentrate on conducting and composing. He has won many awards for these talents, including two Pulitzer Prize nominations - one as recent as 1999 for his Concerto for Orchestra, which was commissioned and premièred by the Minnesota Orchestra. He has also won major international awards, starting with the Polish Szymanowski Competition (for composers) in 1947 and the International Competition for Conductors in Rome in 1956.

Skrowaczewski's interpretations of the Bruckner Symphonies have earned him the Gold Medal of the Mahler-Bruckner Society, and his programming of contemporary music while conducting the Minnesota Orchestra resulted in five awards from ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Following his stint with the Minnesota Orchestra, he was principal conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England, giving concerts throughout the UK and leading tours to the US and throughout Europe. He has recorded extensively for many labels, including RCA, Phillips, CBS, EMI/Angel, Mercury and Vox.

In Skrowaczewski's honour, a 56 page book featuring essays about his influence as a conductor and composer, a chronology of his life and work, and original photographs has been compiled by the McKnight Foundation. Complimentary copies can be downloaded from the McKnight Foundation website, or requested by email from Erin Christman (echristman AT mcknight DOT org).

Information: www.classicalmusicdaily.com/articles/s/s/stanislav-skrowaczewski.htm

Posted: 20 December 2004

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