Bauer, Andrzej (EN)

Bauer Andrzej, *25 October 1962 Łódź, Polish cellist, son of Jerzy. He studied at the Academy of Music in Łódź under K. Michalik (diploma with distinction in 1984) and as a scholar at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna under A. Navarra and T. Kühne in 1986–87; in 1989–90, thanks to the W. Lutosławski Scholarship, he continued studies under W. Pleeth in London. He took part in many master classes. He is a laureate of numerous music competitions: D. Danczowski Competition in Poznań (1^st prize, 1983), Prague Spring International Music Festival (3^rd prize, 1989), and ARD International Music Competition (1^st prize, 1992). In 1989, he received the European Parliament and Council of Europe Award. He gave concerts in many European, Asian and American countries. He took part in international music festivals, e.g. in Warsaw (Warsaw Autumn Festival), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Paris, and Louisville (the United States, Kentucky). In 2014, Andrzej Bauer received the title of professor of the musical arts. He conducts cello classes at the F. Chopin Music University in Warsaw and F. Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, educating remarkable musicians and laureates of national and international competitions. He is also the artistic supervisor of the Warsaw Cellonet Group and Chain Ensemble. He was a co-founder and, since 2018, has been the president of the Witold Lutosławski Society, as well as the initiator and artistic director of the first two editions of the Lutosławski Music Festival Łańcuch (in 2004 and 2005).

Andrzej Bauer’s extensive repertoire ranges from Baroque to contemporary compositions. He has cooperated with numerous radios (PR, BBC, ORTF, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Südwestfunk, Bayerischer Rundfunk), has recorded albums with works by, among others, Schubert, Weber, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Schumann (with a distinction from a German record critics Koch/Schwann), K. Regamey (Lila – concert for violin, cello and orchestra, Swiss Radio International), Lutosławski (Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Naxos), Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Messiaen, Panufnik, Mozart, Chopin, Penderecki, and Mykietyn. A double album released in 2000 by CD Accord containing 6 suites for solo cello by J.S. Bach brought the artist the Polish Phonographic Academy award – Fryderyk 2000.

The last two decades have resulted in the realisation of several projects, ambiguous in terms of style, characterised by the combination of historical and contemporary elements, of elite and pop culture, enriched with extended performance techniques, a wide range of improvisation and digital technologies. The recital presented in 2002 during the 44^th International Warsaw Autumn Festival, filled with world premieres of solo cello pieces inspired by him, accompanied by electronic media, initiated the Cellotronicum project, which has been continued by the artist for many years, and its next edition was honoured with the Orpheus 2006 award during the Warsaw Autumn.