Bugaj Tomasz Michał, *11 February 1950 Kłomnice (near Częstochowa), Polish conductor and teacher. Between 1969 and 1974, he studied at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw in Stanisław Wisłocki’s conducting class. From 1969 to 1972, he studied musicology at the University of Warsaw. He is a winner of international conducting competitions: the Gino Marinuzzi Competition in San Remo (special prize, 1976) and in Bristol, Great Britain (first prize, 1978); in 1994 he received the Premio de la Critica in Chile. Between 1974 and 1988, he collaborated regularly with the Warsaw Chamber Opera (WOK). With the WOK ensemble, he toured extensively in Europe and the United States, conducting operas by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Domenico Cimarosa, Joseph Haydn, Gioachino Rossini and Gaetano Donizetti, with particular emphasis on the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In 1980–84, he was artistic director of the Pomeranian Philharmonic in Bydgoszcz, in 1987–90 of the Łódź Philharmonic, from 1998 to 2005 he was artistic director and principal conductor of the Krakow Philharmonic, and from 2006 to 2008 he was music director of the Grand Theatre – National Opera in Warsaw. He has collaborated with leading orchestras in Poland, including the National Philharmonic, NOSPR and Sinfonia Varsovia, the Polish Chamber Orchestra, as well as foreign orchestras, including the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Orquestra Simfonica de Gran Canaria, Orquestra Simfonica de Bilbao, RTL Luxembourg, Orquestra Nacional de España, the National Chamber Orchestra in Washington, the Orchestra of the RTE in Dublin, the Orchestra Sinfonica de Chile, the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana in Palermo, the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie in Herford, the Münchener Rundfunk Orchester, the Slovak Philharmonic in Bratislava, the Russian National Symphony Orchestra in Moscow and many others. He has also conducted performances at opera houses in Warsaw, Łódź, Poznań, Bilbao and Leeds. He has participated in many international festivals, including Wratislavia Cantans, Gaude Mater in Częstochowa, Festival de Asturias, Bath International Festival of Music and Arts, Berliner Festwochen, Karintischer Sommer, Istanbul International Festival and festivals in Bergen, Lucca, Ravello, Milan, Taormina, Montreux and Newport. He has participated in the jury of numerous vocal competitions, including in Warsaw and Bilbao. He has made many radio and television recordings in Poland and abroad, including for Polish Radio, Polish Television, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Bayerischer Rundfunk, BBC, and for record labels such as Polskie Nagrania, Yedang (South Korea), Musiques Suisses, and Orpheo (his first recording with the Warsaw Chamber Opera – Gluck’s one-act operas La corona and La danza). In addition to conducting, Bugaj is also involved in music education. Since 1997, he has taught conducting at the Academy of Music in Krakow, where he was head of the Conducting Department from 2000 to 2005. In 2002, he was awarded the academic title of professor. Since 2003, he has been associated with the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, where he headed the Conducting Department for many years (until 2020).
Literature: M. Kosińska Tomasz Bugaj, Polskie Centrum Informacji Muzycznej, Związek Kompozytorów Polskich, January 2003 (updated: October 2009), https://culture.pl/pl/tworca/tomasz-bugaj; prof. dr hab. Tomasz Bugaj [entry], https://chopin.edu.pl/pracownicy/7_tomasz-bugaj.
