Tadeusz Paciorkiewicz

(1916 Sierpc [Poland] – 1998 Warsaw [Poland])

Tadeusz Paciorkiewicz was a Polish composer, organist, and educator. He studied organ with Bronisław Rutkowski at the Warsaw Conservatory, completing his studies in 1943. From 1941, he also began studying composition in Kazimierz Sikorski's class in Warsaw, graduating from the same class at the State Higher School of Music in Łódź in 1951. During the occupation, he earned a living as an organist and music teacher in Warsaw and Nasielsk.

In 1945, Paciorkiewicz moved to Płock, where he established elementary and secondary music schools, serving as their principal and teacher until 1949. These schools quickly became central to the musical life not only of Płock but also of the surrounding region. As part of his educational activities, he organized choirs and trained amateur choir conductors, and a drama department was also established. In 1947, Paciorkiewicz debuted as a concert pianist and made recordings for Polish Radio.

In 1949, he moved with his family to Łódź, where he taught theoretical subjects such as harmony and counterpoint at the State Higher School of Music until 1959. In 1959, the family finally settled in Warsaw, and Paciorkiewicz taught at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw (later renamed the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music). He was appointed associate professor in 1966, served as Dean of the Faculty of Composition, Theory, and Conducting from 1963 to 1969, and as Rector of the Academy from 1969 to 1971. He retired from his duties at the Academy in 1986.

Throughout his life, Tadeusz Paciorkiewicz received numerous awards and honors, notably the Minister of Culture and Art Award and the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. The genres of his compositions were wide-ranging, encompassing stage works such as ballets and operas, cantatas, oratorios, as well as symphonies, choral works, chamber music, solo instrumental and vocal pieces, and even works for wind band, incidental music for theater, and film scores.