Jerzy Maksymiuk

Born in Grodno. He graduated from the departments of piano, composition and conducting at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music where he had studied under the supervision of professors Jerzy Lefeld, Piotr Perkowski and Bogusław Madey.
He achieved his first major success as a pianist (1st prize at the International Paderewski Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz in 1961) and as a composer of symphonic, chamber and film music. Soon he became totally preoccupied with conducting. In 1972, he established Polish Chamber Orchestra (presently Sinfonia Varsovia). Conducted by Maksymiuk, the orchestra reached exceptional virtuosity, which within as few as ten years resulted in splendid concert tours and appearances at the world's most prestigious concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Wiener Verein or Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Maksymiuk had started conducting great orchestras before his cooperation with Polish Chamber Orchestra – in the years 1971-1972, he was the conductor of Orchestra of the Teatr Wielki and in 1975 he entered into cooperation with National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and was it's main conductor in the years 1975-1977.
In the years 1982-1995, he conducted the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He led this orchestra to great success as well and introduced it into the circle of best British orchestras. To honour his services, he was awarded a life title of Conductor Laureate. In the years 1991-1993, he cooperated with English National Opera preparing the premieres of Mozart's Don Giovanni and Strauss's Die Fledermaus.
Maksymiuk has made guest appearances as a conductor of many other great orchestras such as London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and English Chamber Orchestra. He has accompanied repeatedly such outstanding soloists as Martha Argerich, Jehudi Menuhin, John Ogdon, and Henryk Szeryng.
He has released about 200 records with such labels as EMI, Hyperion, or Naxos. In the filed of chamber music, he has won, along with Polish Chamber Orchestra, three Floetenuhr awards for records of Mozart's works; and in the filed of symphonic music, he received Best Concerto of the Year Gramophone Award for the recording of James Macmillan's The Confession of Isobel Gawie with the BBC SSO (1993).
Maksymiuk is a great propagator of contemporary music. He belongs to the organising body of Warsaw Autumn Festival and has conducted during numerous editions of the festival. For preparing an incredible number of contemporary music premieres, including Scottish music, he was honoured with the title of Doctor of Letters by the University of Strathclyde.
In recent years, Maksymiuk has returned to composition which has resulted in the cycle of songs, The Red Moon, a composition for two violins and an orchestra, Four Colours, and a composition for an orchestra and organ, The Strings of Life.
He has received many state decorations including the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, and a medal of Merits in Culture Gloria Artis. For his lifetime achievements, he was also presented the Wiktor award of Polish Television and the Diamond Baton award of Polish Radio.