Andrzej Kurylewicz
Encyclopedia
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician, composer, pianist, trombonist and conductor.
He began playing music at the age of 6, in Music School in Lwów. After World War II, Kurylewicz was forced to leave his hometown (see: Repatriation of Poles
Repatriation of Poles
Repatriation of Poles can refer to:*Repatriation of Poles *Repatriation of Poles...
) and settled with family in Gliwice
Gliwice
Gliwice is a city in Upper Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Gliwice is the west district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population of 2 million...
. In 1950 he became a student of the State Musical College in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, in class of piano under supervision of Henryk Sztompka as well as Stanislaw Wiechowicz. In 1954 Kurylewicz, who was a member of pioneer jazz band Melomani
Melomani
Melomani , also known as Hot-Club Melomani, was a pioneer Polish jazz band, created by the first self-styled Polish jazz musicians....
, was expelled from the school for playing then-forbidden jazz.
In later years, Kurylewicz became conductor of the Polish Radio and Television Orchestra in Warsaw, with which he toured the world, playing among others in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and the USA. He played in his own avant-garde ensemble Formacja Muzyki Wspolczesnej, also wrote music for several films, such as Lalka and Polskie drogi. On 24 April 2007 he was posthumously awarded the Polonia Restituta
Polonia Restituta
The Order of Polonia Restituta is one of Poland's highest Orders. The Order can be conferred for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, art, economics, defense of the country, social work, civil service, or for furthering good relations between countries...
by president Lech Kaczyński
Lech Kaczynski
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...
.