Conductor Wit awarded French distinction

At a ceremony in the Philharmonic Hall in Kraków, the French Ambassador in Poland Pierre Buhler said it was a privilege for him to bestow the distinction on one of the most outstanding living conductors in the town of his birth.

In his thank-you remarks, Wit recalled his stay in France on a French government grant almost fifty years ago, his meetings with the French composer Olivier Messiaen and his performances with Polish orchestras at festivals in France.

Antoni Wit, who previously served as Music Director of the National Polish Radio SO in Katowice and of Warsaw Philharmonic, is now Honorary Conductor of the Krakow Philharmonic and Artistic Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra in Pampeluna.

Born in 1944, he studied at the State Higher School of Music in Kraków, conducting with Henryk Czyż and composition with Krzysztof Penderecki.

The Second Prize at the Herbert von Karajan International Competition in Berlin in 1971 marked the beginning of his international career.

Wit has performed in the most important European music centres, as well as in the two Americas and the Middle and Far East. He has conducted such famous orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Royal Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony, and the NHK Tokyo.

The conductor’s discography includes over 200 CDs which have sold almost five million copies and many of which won prestigious awards, including a Grammy (2013), theDiapason d'Or, the Grand Prix du Disque de la Nouvelle Académie, and the International Classical Music Award. (mk/jb)