Stanisław Skrowaczewski
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The conductor Stanisław Skrowaczewski (born October 3, 1923) was born in Lwów, Poland (now L'viv, Ukraine) and became best known for his work with the Minnesota Orchestra.
As a child, he studied piano and violin; he was a very good pianist, making his debut in that capacity with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor. Unfortunately, a hand injury ended his piano career.
After World War II, Skrowaczewski became music director of the Wrocław Philharmonic, then the Katowice Philharmonic, the Kraków Philharmonic and the Warsaw National Orchestra. He studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. In 1956 he won the Santa Cecilia Competition for Conductors.
At the invitation of George Szell, Skrowaczewski conducted the Cleveland Orchestra. In 1960 he was appointed music director of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (which was renamed the Minnesota Orchestra under his tenure in 1968), a position he held until 1979 when he was awarded conductor laureate. In 1981 the American Composers' Forum commissioned the Clarinet Concerto, which Skrowaczewski wrote for Minnesota Orchestra principal clarinetist Joe Longo, who premiered it in 1981.
From 1984 to 1991 he was principal conductor of the Hallé Orchestra. In 1988, he was composer-in-residence for the Philadelphia Orchestra's summer season at Saratoga. He has guest-conducted that orchestra, and many others, all over the world.
His complete set of recordings of the symphonies of Anton Bruckner, made with the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra has received much acclaim. Another noted recording is his Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 with the London Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with the soloist Gina Bachauer.
Skrowaczewski's Passacaglia Immaginaria, completed in 1995, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1997. Commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestral Association to honor the memory of Ken and Judy Dayton, it was premiered at Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis in 1996.
The Chamber Concerto was commissioned by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in memory of Leopold Sipe, their first music director. The Concerto for Orchestra received a Pulitzer nomination in 1999.
He received the Commander Order of the White Eagle, the highest order conferred by the Polish government, as well as the Gold Medal of the Mahler-Bruckner Society, the 1973 Ditson Conductor's Award, and the 1976 Kennedy Center Friedheim Award.
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| Preceded by Antal Doráti |
Music Director, Minnesota Orchestra 1960–1980 |
Succeeded by Neville Marriner |
| Preceded by James Loughran |
Principal Conductor, Hallé Orchestra 1983–1992 |
Succeeded by Kent Nagano |
| Preceded by Gerd Albrecht |
Principal Conductor, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra 2007– |
Succeeded by incumbent |
