Jerzy Maksymiuk

photo Mirosław Pietruszyński

Jerzy Maksymiuk was born in Grodno in 1936, Poland, and studied violin, piano, conducting,  and composition at the Warsaw Conservatory. In 1964 he won first prize in the Paderewski Piano Competition. Conducting, however, soon became his principal career and while working at the Warsaw Grand Theatre he formed the highly successful Polish Chamber Orchestra, which toured all over the world. Between 1975 and 1977 Jerzy Maksymiuk also held the post of Principal Conductor of the Polish National Radio Orchestra. From 1983 to 1993  he was Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, with which he performed at the famous Promenade Concerts in London and made a number of overseas tours. The BBC Orchestra awarded him with the honorary title of Conductor Laureate in 1993.

He conducted several famous orchestras in Europe, USA, Japan, Australia, including  London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Staatskapelle Dresden. He made a number of critically acclaimed recordings on the EMI, Hyperion and Naxos labels and won a number of awards for his recordings, including Floeten Uhr and Gramophone Award.
Mr Maksymiuk has also composed several orchestral pieces. His recent works include “Arbor vitae” (oratorio, 2003), ”Red Moon” (songs for chamber orchestra and soprano, 2004), “Quatre couleurs” for 2 violins and chamber orchestra (2006), “Whispers and a Cry of Dreams” for cello and chamber orchestra (2008), “The Song of a Blind Star” for flute and chamber orchestra (2010), “Passacaglia” for piano and violin (2010).

He was honoured with a number of state awards as well as the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters by Strahclyde University and the prestigious Gold Medal from the Elgar Society for promoting Elgar’s works.