Paweł Kotla, photo. Marcin Stępień
Kotla studied violin under Małgorzata Młyńczak-Spychała at the Poznań Secondary School of Music. He studied symphony and opera conducting with Ryszard Dudek and Bogusław Madey at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw. He continued his postgraduate studies in musicology and performance practice with Edward Higginbottom and Andrew Parrott at the Faculty of Music, Oxford University, graduating with a Master of Studies (Musicology) degree. He participated in international masterclasses in Vienna, Siena, Innsbruck and Bressanone, along with Jorma Panula.
Between 1997 and 1998 Kotla was artistic director of the Oxford University Philharmonic. Between 1997-98 he was the performing fellow in conducting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London as well as a fellow in the school's Opera Department. During a five-year period from 1998 onwards he regularly worked as the assistant conductor to Sir Simon Rattle. During the season of 2005/2006 he was the artistic director of the Płock Symphony Orchestra. Since 2008 he has been a regular conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. He is also the artistic director of "I, CULTURE Orchestra", the official orchestra of the Polish presidency of the European Union and one of the Cultural Programme's flagship events.
Paweł Kotla has conducted orchestras such as the Drottningholm Barockensemble, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, the London Mozart Players, Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de São Paulo and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. He has performed with Polish philharmonic orchestras (including Białystok, Gdańsk, Kielce, Lublin, Łódź, Poznań, Rzeszów, Warsaw, Wrocław and Szczecin), as well as the Arte dei Suonatori Baroque Orchestra, Beethoven Academy Orchestra, and the National Philharmonic. He has recorded with the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Polish Radio Orchestra, having also worked with "Opera na Zamku" / "Opera at the Castle" in Szczecin and the Warsaw Chamber Opera. In 2008 he conducted the European Union Youth Orchestra in a concert that opened the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the European Parliament.
Apart from Poland and Great Britain he performed in Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Sweden, Russia and Brazil. In December 1999 he made his first appearance on radio and TV co-conducting with Sir Simon Rattle during the world premiere of "About Time" by Mark-Anthony Turnage. The Millennium Concert was broadcast live on BBC TV 2 and BBC Radio 3 from the UK's Ely Cathedral.
In 2004 he received a medal from the Polish Association of Choirs and Orchestras. In June 2007 he won the prestigious scholarship of Murray-Smith Laird Foundation under the patronage of Sir Colin Davis which led to his regular collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra.