Dębski, Krzesimir (EN)

Dębski Krzesimir, *26 October 1953 Wałbrzych, Polish composer, conductor, jazz violinist. He studied composition with Andrzej Koszewski (composition) and with Witold Krzemienski (conducting) at the Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań. In 1975 he made his debut as a jazz musician in the group “Warsztat” at the Jazz nad Odrą festival in Wrocław. From 1980, was a leader of the jazz group “String Connection”, with which he toured in 25 countries and performed at jazz festivals in Baden-Baden, Paris, The Hague, Helsinki, Berlin, Montreal, Reno, Nuremberg, Bilbao, Budapest. In 1983, he was awarded first prize at the worldwide festival of jazz ensembles in Hoeilaart (Belgium), and in 1985 he received the S. Wyspiański Award from the Ministry of Culture. He has repeatedly won in the Jazz Forum polls in the categories of jazz violinist, arrangers and composers, and in 1986 was recognised as one of the ten best jazz violinists in the world in the Critics Poll of the American magazine “Down Beat”. He received the first prize at the composers competition on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Poznań Music Spring festival, the Genie Award ’88 of the Canadian Film Academy, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland’s award for his work for children, the Benedictus Award ’95; he was nominated for an Emmy Award ’98 for his music to the film Maszyna zmian (directed by A. Maleszka) and received numerous awards at festivals in Opole and Sopot.

From 1986, Dębski limited his concert activities, devoting himself to composing, and also recorded for radio (Warsaw, Opole, Szczecin, Malmö, San Francisco, Oslo, Baden-Baden). He has composed more than 40 symphonic and chamber works, music for more than 50 fiction and television films, 35 plays and works for children. He has written more than 100 songs. He has also been active as a conductor and has prepared recordings for Sony Classical Records, among others. He gave lectures at the International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt. As a conductor, he performed, among others, with J. Carreras, S. Toczyska, B. Nizioł, the Canadian Brass ensemble; he collaborated with A. Makowicz as an arranger and conductor (Makowicz Plays Gershwin and Makowicz Plays Berlin, 1992). Debski is a jazz improvising violinist belonging to the post-Coltrane trend. As a composer, he seeks in his works a synthesis of various trends and directions in 20th century music, from avant-garde to jazz to pop elements.