Photo: Stanisław Kusiak
Krzysztof Zbijowski
Clarinettist and pedagogue, Krzysztof Zbijowski graduated from The Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice in the class of Prof. Henryk Kierski. He mastered his skills under Prof. Guy Deplus, professor at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. At the First State Public Music School in Warsaw, Krzysztof Zbijowski is the Head of Wind Instruments and Percussion Section where he teaches clarinet and chamber music.
In the years 1990-1995, he was the principal clarinettist of The Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in Katowice. Krzysztof Zbijowski has been a soloist of the Polish Chamber Philharmonic in Sopot. In 1995, he became the principal clarinettist of the Grand Theatre—National Opera in Warsaw. Between 1997-1999, he was a member of Sinfonia Helvetica, an orchestra founded by Grzegorz Nowak and comprising of leading musicians from European orchestras.
Krzysztof Zbijowski is a laureate of the 1st prize at the National Wind Instruments Festival in Koszalin. As a member of a wind quintet, he placed 1st at the National Chamber Music Festival in Wrocław. The artist has performed at prestigious festivals in Poland and abroad, including: the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music, Warsaw Music Meetings, Musica Polonica Nova in Wrocław, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
He has performed with numerous Polish orchestras. His repertoire includes, inter alia, works of W. A. Mozart, G. Rossini, K. Kurpiński, F. Danzi, L. Spohr, F. Mendelssohn, C. M. von Weber, C. Debussy, R. Strauss, W. Lutosławski, K. Penderecki.
Krzysztof Zbijowski has been performing with distinguished musicians, including: Agnieszka Duczmal, Misha Maisky, Marc Minkowski, Lorin Mazel, Grzegorz Nowak, Krzysztof Penderecki, Ivo Pogorelic, Wojciech Rajski, Mścisław Roztropowicz, Tadeusz Wojciechowski, and Krystian Zimerman.
The artist has made radio, tv, and phonographic recordings, released by Sony Classical, Claves, Tacet, Amati, DUX, Accord, et al. Accompanied by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Krzysztof Zbijowski recorded W. Lutosławski’s Dance Preludes for clarinet and chamber orchestra, with the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio, he recorded the world premiere of the Concerto per clarinetto e archi by E. Sielicki. Finally, with the Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra — C. Debussy’s Premiére Rhapsodie which constituted the first recording of the piece in the history of Polish phonography.