Grzegorz Miśkiewicz
Quick Facts
Born: 12 March 1969, Jordanów, Poland
Life and Musical Career
Grzegorz Miśkiewicz is a Polish composer, organist, music teacher and scholar. His creative work focuses particularly on sacred and choral music, although he has also written compositions for children, solo piano, chamber ensembles and string orchestra.
From 1984 to 1988, Miśkiewicz studied organ with Professor Zbigniew Indyk at the State Secondary School of Music in Kraków. Between 1989 and 1992, he continued his education at the Liturgical Institute of the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Kraków. He later completed advanced studies in church history and music, graduating with honours. In 2013, he received a doctorate in the humanities for research examining Greek musical ethos and its influence on early Christian church singing.
Miśkiewicz combines composition with teaching and academic research. His catalogue includes psalm settings, motets, masses, Passion songs, carols, secular choral works and educational piano music. Many of his compositions use Latin or Polish religious texts and are written for mixed, female or children’s choirs. His works have been performed in Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and the United States, including concerts in Louisville and at Carnegie Hall in New York.
He has received numerous awards and distinctions in Polish and international composition competitions. Three of his most important compositions are:
Missa brevis (2009) – a sacred work for mixed choir a cappella that received second prize in a national competition for liturgical choral composition in Bydgoszcz; first prize was not awarded.
Miserere mei, Deus (2010) – a Passion composition for mixed choir that received first prize in a national choral composition competition in Bydgoszcz. A later version was prepared for choir and string orchestra.
In te, Domine (2013) – a sacred composition written in several versions for soloists, choir and organ. It was performed at Carnegie Hall in New York on 16 December 2015.
Sources:
Polish Music Information Centre — Grzegorz Miśkiewicz: Biography and Awards.
Grzegorz Miśkiewicz — Official Biography and Catalogue of Compositions.
Moving Classics TV — Grzegorz Miśkiewicz: Composer Profile.
