Antoni Wit

He studied conducting with Henryk Czyż and composition with Krzysztof Penderecki and later Nadia Boulanger in Paris. In 1971 he was a top prize winner at the Herbert von Karajan International Conducting Competition; this proved a pivotal moment in his career. The following year he assisted Herbert von Karajan at the Easter Festival in Salzburg and during this time conducted regularly at the Poznan Philharmonic. Antoni Wit was awarded the post of Artistic Director in 1974 with the Pomeranian Philharmonic. From 1977-1983, he assumed the position of Artistic Director and First Conductor of the Radio Orchester in Krakow. Antoni Wit later worked with Orquestra Filarmonica de Gran Canaria in Las Palmas, first as Music Director and then as Visiting Conductor from 1987 – 1990. Between the years of 1983-2000 he held the post of Director of the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice before taking up his current position at the Warsaw Philharmonic.

Antoni Wit has enjoyed an international career with major orchestras throughout Europe, America and the Far East. Past highlights have comprised Berliner Philharmoniker, Dresden Staatskapelle, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia as well as Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Recent and future orchestral engagements include Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart and Berlin Philharmonic, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, Prague Radio Symphony, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona, St Petersburg Philharmonia, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre National de Belgique.

Five times Grammy Award nominated, Antoni Wit has made over one hundred and fifty recordings for EMI, Sony and Naxos. He has sold close to 5 million records on Naxos including an acclaimed release of Prokofiev‟s piano concertos with Kun Woo Paik, awarded the Diapason d'Or and Grand Prix de la Nouvelle Académie du disque. He was bestowed the award of EMI “Record of the Year” in 1985 for his recording of Szymanowski‟s Stabat Mater and in January 2002 he was awarded the Cannes Classical Award for his recording of Messiaen‟s Turangalîla-Symphonie. More recently, the first two records from his series of complete works by Szymanowski were picked as the Gramophone “Editor's Choice” and subsequent two records were awarded the BBC Music Magazine‟s “Editor's Choice”. His first DVD release on the ICA Classics label was awarded the „Editor‟s Choice/DVD of the Month‟ by Gramophone magazine. The DVD features Szymanowski‟s Third and Fourth Symphonies conducted by Antoni Wit with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.