Draft:Jerzy Dziubinski

Jerzy Dziubiński at the organ of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris

Jerzy Dziubiński (born in Warsaw, July 14, 1960) is a Polish organist and professor.

He was a professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and the principal organist and music director of the Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity in Warsaw, belonging to the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland.

As an organ virtuoso, he has performed throughout Europe and America. In Poland, he played at the Warsaw National Philharmonic in the series called "Master Organ Recitals" (Polish: "Mistrzowskie recitale organowe") and "Bach's Year 2000" (Polish: "Rok bachowski 2000"), at the Krakow Philharmonic Hall, and at numerous festivals: "Varsovian Autumn" (Polish: "Warszawska Jesień"), the Oliwa Cathedral Festival, the Saint Mary's Church Festival in Gdansk, the Kamień Pomorski Festival, and the Leżajsk Festival.

During his career, he has given concerts on some of the most known organs in Europe, including at the cathedrals of Berlin, Bern, Brussels, Budapest, Edinburgh, Geneva, Magdeburg, Oslo, Notre-Dame de Paris, Riga, Trondheim, Uppsala, Vilnius, at the Jacobikirche in Hamburg, at the Oudekerk in Amsterdam, at the St.-Wenzelskirche in Naumburg, and at the Church of Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune in Strasbourg. Some of his concerts took place in the United States and in Latin America, too. During his U.S. tour in 2000, Jerzy Dziubiński played e.g. at the Christ the King Lutheran Church of Houston, Texas, on the historic organ of St. Joseph Oratory in Detroit, Michigan, at the chapel of Presbyterian Homes in Evanston, Illinois.

Biography

Education

Jerzy Dziubiński graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw in Joachim Grubich's organ class in 1984 and from the Geneva Conservatory under Lionel Rogg, having crossed the Iron Curtain that then divided Europe.

During his time in Geneva, he also honed his skills in the performance of early music with Christiane Jaccottet and took courses in organ interpretation with Marie-Claire Alain, Gaston Litaize, Michael Radulescu, and Harald Vogel.

Achievements

Spreading Polish music around the world

Jerzy Dziubiński transcribed for organ Ignacy Jan Paderewski's monumental "Polonia" Symphony, performed it at Notre-Dame de Paris and at the Lausanne Cathedral in 2010, on the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth.

Many well-known contemporary Polish composers have dedicated their works to Jerzy Dziubiński, as Marian Sawa, Andrzej Dziadek, Paweł Lukaszewski, and Paweł Marcin Strzelecki.

He has published numerous radio recordings, primarily for the Polish Radio and Radio Suisse Romande, as well as CDs with the labels Dux Records, Acte Préalable, and SEM Gramophone. He made the very first recording (World Premiere Recording) of the Organ Concerto in G minor, op. 35, by the Polish composer Mieczysław Surzyński, with the Polish Radio Orchestra conducted by Jacek Rogala. The work was composed in 1904, and it was originally believed that the score had been lost in the fire at the Warsaw Philharmonic, which was bombed by the Germans in 1939. However, more than fifty years later, a copy was discovered in the University Library of Poznań. It is a world-class masterpiece of its genre, and the album on which Dziubiński's recording was released in 2002 along with other works by Surzyński recorded for the first time in history received enthusiastic reviews in specialized press worldwide. For instance, Victor Carr Jr wrote on Classics Today: "Surzyński's organ writing throughout is quite inventive, making clever use of the instrument's lower registers, and it certainly seems to present little challenge for Jerzy Dziubiński, who performs with considerable skill and aplomb".

Among Jerzy Dziubiński's world premieres are also the two organ concertos by Marian Sawa, composed for the inauguration of the new Walcker organ at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw and for the consecration of the new Hillebrand organ at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity in Warsaw, which had been built according to Dziubiński's instructions. In fact, it was in that very church that Jerzy Dziubiński served for thirty years as organist and music director. He accompanied worship services, including ecumenical events such as the historical visits of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. In the same church he organised several festivals as artistic director, such as the International Festival "Bach ... and not only" (Polish: "Bach ... i nie tylko").

Cooperation with other musicians

Jerzy Dziubiński has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as Sinfonia Varsovia, conducted by Jan Krenz, and Concerto Avenna, conducted by Andrzej Mysiński.

With Concerto Avenna and his wife Emilia Dziubińska, he performed all of George Frideric Handel's organ concertos in 2005 at the festival "Wszystkie koncerty organowe J.F. Haendla". That was the first time all sixteen Handel's organ concertos were played at a single festival in Poland. In 2000, he also performed with Sinfonia Varsovia under the baton of Krzysztof Penderecki.

In 2007, he continued with the festival "Organ Concertos by J. Haydn and C.Ph.E. Bach" (Polish: "Koncerty organowe J. Haydna i C.Ph.E. Bacha"), in which once again with Concerto Avenna and Emilia Dziubińska he performed all organ concertos composed by Joseph Haydn and Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach.

Throughout his career, Jerzy Dziubiński has performed as a chamber musician with famous Polish singers, such as Małgorzata Armanowska, Krystyna Szostek-Radkowa, and Krzysztof Szmyt, and instrumentalists such as violinists Katarzyna Duda and Włodzimierz Promiński, violist Artur Paciorkiewicz, and oboist Tytus Wojnowicz. In 2008, he staged the Bach project "Bach semper magnificus" with the Polish American jazz pianist Adam Makowicz. It was a completely new endeavor that combined the sounds of piano and organ in the acoustics of a church.

Teaching

From 1987 to 2021, Jerzy Dziubiński taught at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw (later renamed "University of Music") as an organ professor both in the Department of Piano, Harpsichord, and Organ and in the Deparment of Sacred Music.

In addition to his teaching duties in the strict sense, he was invited to serve on numerous juries for organ auditions and competitions, as well as to lead master classes, seminars, and interpretation courses in Poland and in other European countries.

Awards

In 1983, at the International Organ Competition in Budapest dedicated to Franz Liszt, Jerzy Dziubiński won the special prize from the Leipzig Bach Society for the best interpretation of Johann Sebastian Bach's works. He was subsequently invited by the Leipzig Bach Society to perform at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, where Bach had served as a Kantor for many years, in a solemn concert marking the anniversary of the great German composer's death.

The following year, in 1984, he received a scholarship from the Swiss Federal Government, which enabled him to study for three years in Geneva with the great musician and teacher Lionel Rogg. Upon completing his studies at the Geneva Conservatory, he was awarded the first prize for the best organ diploma.

Discography

Radio recordings

Many of Jerzy Dziubiński's solo recitals, as well as numerous concerts in which he participated, have been recorded live on tape or using digital equipment.

In addition to live recordings, Jerzy Dziubiński has recorded many performances for various production companies and radio stations, including the Polish public broadcasters Polskie Radio and Radiowa Dwójka.

CDs

• "Jerzy Dziubiński plays on the organ of St. Teresa Church in Łódź - Bach, Du Mage, Mendelssohn, Messiaen" (Dux Records 0233)
• "Jerzy Dziubiński plays Mieczysław Surzyński's Concerto G minor for organ and orchestra op. 35 (1904) and other organ pieces" with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jacek Rogala (Dux Records 0360)
• "Marian Sawa - Organ Music - I": Jerzy Dziubiński plays the Organ Concerto "Evangelical" (1997) and other organ pieces with the Camerata Vistula Orchestra conducted by Maciej Żółtowski (Acte Préalable 0030)
• "Tadeusz Paciorkiewicz - Chamber works for violin and viola" with Krzysztof Bzówka, Katarzyna Duda, Jerzy Dziubiński, Artur Paciorkiewicz, Edward Wolanin (Acte Préalable 0088)
• "An Anthology of Polish Music" (Polish: "Antologia Muzyki Polskiej"): Jerzy Dziubiński plays Chant triste by Mieczysław Surzyński (Dux Records 0606/0609)
• "Paweł Marcin Strzelecki - Early Works": Jerzy Dziubiński plays the Concerto for Organ, Timpani and Strings (2002) with the Mikołów Chamber Orchestra conducted by Jan Wincenty Hawel (Dux Records 2062-3)