Jacek Rogala – conductor (Poland)

He graduated with honours from Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil’s composing class (1990) and Marek Pijarowski’s conducting class (1992). In 2011, he received the degree of the Doctor of Musical Arts (F. Chopin University of Music).

Since 2001, he has been acting as director of the Świętokrzyska Philharmonic in Kielce and the “Świętokrzyskie Dni Muzyki” Festival. In January 2012, he inaugurated activity of the Kielce orchestra in a new seat, whose building he had been preoccupied with for over a decade.

In the 1990s he worked as conductor’s assistant in Wrocław Opera, and collaborated with the Capella Bydgostiensis as permanent visiting conductor. After that, he was granted the A. Rodziński scholarship for conductors in The Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. It was also when he worked for the Music Editorial Section of the Polish Radio in Wrocław, acted as proxy of the Minister of Culture and Art for Music, and headed the Contemporary Music Editorial Section of Channel 2 of the Polish Radio. In 1999, he was artistic director of the “Grażyna Bacewicz Days” Festival of the Polish Radio and Television. In the years 2000–2007 he was President, and till 2010 – Vice President of the Board of the Polish Association of Contemporary Music, where he also headed the Competition of the 20th- and 21st-Century Music for Young Musicians.

He serves as juror of music competitions and member of programme festivals, including the World Music Days in Wrocław 2014, and since 2013 the International Conducting Competition in Bucharest. He is author of a book titled Muzyka polska XX wieku [Polish Music of the 20th Century] published by the Powszechne Wydawnictwo Muzyczne (2000). For about a dozen years he taught at the J. Kochanowski University in Kielce, and since 2016 he has been assistant professor at the Ł.dź Academy of Music. He was member of the Board for Artistic Institutions during the first term of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Since 2012 he has been Vice-Chair of the Union of Polish Philharmonics.

He has made numerous first performances and recordings for the radio and cinema. His recordings of Paweł Mykietyn’s composition 3 dla 13 and Tadeusz Wielecki’s Concerto à rebours won the International Rostrum of Composers in Paris (1995 and 1999), and the CD with his recording of the 3 dla 13 received the 2009 Fryderyk Music Award in two categories: Album of the Year in Contemporary Music and The Most Outstanding Recording of Polish Music . In collaboration with the Świętokrzyska Philharmonic Orchestra he has recorded a cycle of four CDs Album Polski , a CD titled We Are From Here with Włodek Pawlik’s music and a CD titled Muzyka na otwarcie with works commissioned from Polish composers for the fi rst concert in the Świętokrzyska Philharmonic new seat.

In the years 2007–2011, he conducted premieres of five contemporary ballets produced by the Świętokrzyska Philharmonic and the Kielce Dance Theatre, including Krzesimir Dębski’s Zdarzyło się w Jeruzalem and Pinokio by Mieczysław Weinberg (Polish premiere). Since 2013, as part of collaboration between the Świętokrzyska Philharmonic and the F. Chopin Music University, he has been conducting annual performances in the cycle called “Opera in the Philharmonic” (W. A. Mozart, P. Tchaikovsky).

He has appeared at numerous reputable festivals and competitions in Europe, Asia and both Americas. He also composes symphonic, chamber, choral and electronic music that has been presented across Europe and North America.

He was granted the Medal for Merit to Culture “Gloria Artis”, and the Prize of the Polish Authors’ Association (ZAIKS) for propagating Polish contemporary music.