Born on 23 November 1933 in Dębica. Studied composition with F. Skołyszewski, and then at the State Higher School of Music in Kraków with A. Malawski and S. Wiechowicz. He is a laureate of many artistic prizes both national and international, including: 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes at the 2nd Young Polish Composers' Competition (1959), National Prize of 1st degree (1968, 1983), Prize of the Polish Composers' Union (1970), Herder Prize (1977), Honegger Prize (1978), Sibelius Prize (1983), Premio Lorenzo Magnifico (1985), Karl Wolf Foundation Award (1987), Grammy Award (1998, 1999, 2001), Grawemeyer Music Award (1992), International Musical Council UNESCO (1993), Best Living World Composer (2000), Prince of Asturias Prize (2001).
Krzysztof Penderecki has received honorary doctorates from numerous universities, such as the universities of Rochester, Bordeaux, Leuven, Washington, Belgrad, Madrid, Poznań, Warsaw, Buenos Aires, Glasgow, Münster, Seoul, Kraków, and he is an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Kungl. Musikaliska Akademien in Stockholm, Akademie der Künste in Berlin, Academia National de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, Académie Internationale de Philosophie et de l'Art in Bern, Académie Nationale des Sciences, Belles-lettres et Arts in Bordeaux, Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has been honoured with high distinctions by Polish State as well as by foreign countries.
In the years 1973-1978 he was a lecturer at Yale University in New Haven, and in the years 1972-1987 he was Rector of the Academy of Music in Kraków, in the years 1987-1990 Artistic Director of the Kraków Philharmonic. He is the first guest conductor of Norddeutscher Rundfunk Orchester in Hamburg and Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester in Leipzig. From 1992 to 2000 he was the artistic director of the Casals Festival in San Juan (Puerto Rico). In 1997 he became the artistic director of the Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra. Since 1998 he has been counselor of the Beijing Music Festival in Beijing, and since 2000 - guest conductor of China Philharmonic Orchestra.
He conducts leading symphonic orchestras in the USA and Europe. Apart from his own works he conducts symphonic works of composers from various historical periods.
On 14 December 2005 Prof. Krzysztof Penderecki was conferred the highest Polish distinction – the Order of the White Eagle. In September 2007 he received the title of Honorary Professor of Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, joining such eminent personages of the musical world as Yuri Temirkanov, Rodion Shchedrin and Galina Vishnevskaya.
In April 2008, Prof. Krzysztof Penderecki was awarded the Gold Medal of the Minister of Culture of Armenia, the Diploma of Honorary Professor of Yerevan State Conservatory and the Eagles 2008 award for best music for Andrzej Wajda's film, "Katyń". The Concerto for Horn and Orchestra was premiered, under the composer's baton with Radovan Vlatković as a soloist, on 5 May 2008 in Bremen. Penderecki's String Quartet No. 3 was premiered on 22 November during the jubilee Krzysztof Penderecki Festival in Warsaw
The composer's oeuvre encompasses over 100 works, including 16 chamber and solo works, 27 orchestral works, 7 symphonies, 17 concertos for diverse instruments, 19 songs and choral works, 4 operas and 18 cantatas and oratorios. Krzysztof Penderecki wrote music for over 100 feature films and documentaries, plays for children and adults. His latest piece, Kaddish, was composed to mark the 65th anniversary of the liquidation of the Łódź Ghetto.
In 2009, Krzysztof Penderecki received the Ordre de Mérite du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg and the Order of Honour from the President of the Republic of Armenia. The composer was invited to the Honorary Committee of the Chopin Year 2010 Celebrations at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Lisbon, Tokyo and Rome.