Remarkable conductor
Born in Poland, he studied conducting, theory and composition at the Warsaw Academy of Music, graduating in 1975 and that same year making his debut in a new production of "Don Giovanni" at the National Opera. In 1976 he became Principal Guest Conductor of Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Dusseldorf and in 1977 won III Prize at the prestigious Karajan Competition, making his Berlin and New York debut the following year.
In 1978 he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, becoming its Director in 1980 and together making several European tours that included his Royal Festival Hall debut in London. In 1982 he moved to London, making his debut with the Philharmonia and subsequently performed regularly with all the London orchestras as well as with the Halle, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, Ulster Orchestra, Royal Scottish National, BBC Scottish and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with whom he made his Promenade Concert debut. Between 1983-1987 he was Principal Conductor of Capital Radio's Wren Orchestra of London.
Throughout Europe he has conducted among others the Berlin Philharmonic, Bayerischer Rundfunk, RSO Berlin, Orchestre Nationale Paris, Vienna Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Flanders Philharmonic and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe with which he toured Australia. Between 1991-95 he was Principal Conductor and Music Advisor of the Nord Nederlands Orchest. Further afield he has toured with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony and performed with the Tokyo Philharmonic as well as the Hong Kong Philharmonic and New Zealand Symphony. In North America he has conducted the San Diego Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony, Calgary Symphony and at the Detroit Opera.
In the field of opera, he has conducted productions of Tchaikovsky's "Queen of Spades" (Dusseldorf Opera - 1977), Moniuszko's "Haunted Manor" (Detroit Opera - 1982), Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (Lyon Opera - 1983), Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" (Bordeaux Opera - 1985), Mozart's "Magic Flute" (Opera Comique Paris - 1987 and Stockholm Opera - 1988), Weill's "Seven Deadly Sins" (Lyon Opera - 1987), J. Strauss's "Die Fledermaus" (Scottish Opera - 1988), Wagner's "Flying Dutchman" (Opera North Leeds - 1989), Rossini's "Barber of Seville" (English National Opera - 1992), R. Strauss's "Der Rosenkavalier" (Warsaw Opera - 1997) and Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker" (Zurich Opera – 2000).
In 1994 Kaspszyk returned to Warsaw for performances at the Grand Theatre - National Opera and concerts with the National Philharmonic whose Principal Guest Conductor he became in 1996. He also works regularly with the Sinfonia Varsovia as well as the Warsaw Chamber Opera and its affiliate Warsaw Symphony Orchestra.
In 1998 he took up the post of Artistic and Music Director of the Grand Theatre - National Opera, opening his tenure with a new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni, followed by Bartok's Duke Bluebeard's Castle and The Miraculous Mandarin, Szymanowski's King Roger, Verdi's Don Carlos and Otello, Moniuszko's The Haunted Manor, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Lehar's The Merry Widow, Puccini's La rondine, Penderecki's Ubu Rex and Berlioz's La damnation de Faust as well as revivals of Verdi's Nabucco, Rigoletto and La Traviata, Wagner's Die Walküre and Puccini’s Turandot.
During 2002-2005 Jacek Kaspszyk was General Director of the Grand Theatre - National Opera, and held the post of General and Artistic Director.
