Paweł Łukaszewski's father is Wojciech Łukaszewski, the composer, pedagogue, music writer and musical impresario. Paweł graduated from the Academy of Music in Warsaw, where he studied cello under Andrzej Wróbel (1987-92) and composition under Marian Borkowski (1991-95), which he completed with distinction. In 1994, he graduated with distinction from the Art Managing School of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, and in 1996 he completed a post-graduate course at Choirmaster School in Bydgoszcz. He took part in many specialized courses during his studies, including the Summer Course of Computer Music in Warsaw, the Summer Course for Young Composers in Kazimierz Dolny, the Summer Contemporary Music Course in Kraków, and the Course of Computer Graphics for Music in Warsaw.
Paweł Łukaszewski is a very active organizer of music cultural life. From 1992, he has been the president of the Musica Sacra Association. From 1994, he has held the post of artistic secretary and subsequently director of the Laboratory of Contemporary Music Festival and Association. He is a member of Gaude Mater International Festival Council in Czestochowa, ZaiKS (the Polish Society of Authors and Composers), and the Union of Polish Composers. Since 2002, he has been the director of the Musica Sacra Choir of the Warsaw-Praga Cathedral and the Musica Sacra Edition recording company.
He started his teaching career in 1996 as an assistant professor in the Composition Department of Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw. Since 2001, he has held the position of associate professor at the same academy.
His works have been performed at over one hundred festivals in Poland and abroad. His compositions have been recorded on more than seventy Polish and foreign CDs, released by Hyperion, Acte Préalable, Polish Edition Recordings, DUX, Musica Sacra Edition, and Signum Records. Approximately fifty compositions have appeared in print, published by ChesterNovello, PWM, Edition Ferrimontana, Edizioni Carrara, Lorenz Corporation and Choris Mundi.
In recent years, Łukaszewski’s compositions have gained recognition in the UK. His works are performed by renowned choirs from London and Cambridge: The Kings Singers, The Holst Singers, BBC Singers, Trinity College Choir, Tenebrae, Britten Sinfonia, and Polyphony, conducted by Stephen Laytona.
Paweł Łukaszewski has been awarded many scholarships, including the scholarship of the city of Częstochowa (1993), the ZAiKS scholarship (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003), scholarship from the Bogdan Suchodolski Foundation in Warsaw (1995), scholarship for the promotion of creativity from the Ministry of Culture and the Arts (1996) and a scholarship from the capital city of Warsaw (2010).
He has received many awards and honours, including distinction for Modlitwa (Prayer) at the Competition of the Academic Community in Kraków, second prize for Winterreise at the 2nd Forum of Young Composers in Kraków (1994), distinction for Arrampicata at Tadeusz Baird’s Competition for Young Composers (1992), first prize for Arrampicata from Orfeo-Bogusław Kaczynski’s Foundation at the Academy of Music Competition in Warsaw (1995), second prize at the 5th Adam Didur’s Composers' Competition in Sanok for Recordationes de Christo moriendo (1996), and second prize for the song Cruce Adoramus tuam, Domine from the series Two motets Lenten at the 27th International Competition Florilege Vocal de Tours in France (1998)
Łukaszewski has won five prestigious Fryderyk awards bestowed by the Polish music industry (1999, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2011). In 1995, he received an award for his body of work from Mayor of Częstochowa. In 1998, he was presented with the Medal of Merit, the Award of the Baltic Chancellor of the Higher School of Humanities in Koszalin and the Medal of Merit for the Province of Koszalin, as well as the Order of Polonia Restituta. In following years, he received the St. Albert’s Award (2006), Silver Medal of Merit to Culture - Gloria Artis (2011), and Award of the Polish Primate (2011).
List of major works:
- Akwarele (Watercolours) for piano (1984-86)
- Sześć utworów do słów poetów polskich (6 Pieces, words by Polish poets) for mixed choir (1988-94)
- W mojej Ojczyźnie, (In my homeland) two songs for male voice and piano (1989, 2000)
- Dwa preludia ( Two preludes) for piano (1989-92)
- Capriccio for P.P. for violin (1991)
- Quasi sonata for clarinet and piano (1991)
- One Week in London for tape (1992)
- Arrampicata for orchestra (1992)
- Trzy pieśni (Three songs) for mezzo-soprano and piano (1992)
- Le jeux de l'amour et du hasard for tape (1992)
- Kolędy (Christmas Carols) for mixed choir a cappella (1992, 2001)
- Ave Maria for two mixed choirs (1992, 2009)
- The Dusk, for tape (1993)
- Aragena for soprano, cello, computer (1993)
- Osiem piosenek dla dzieci (Eight songs for children) voice and piano (1993)
- Winterreise for orchestra (1993)
- Utwory sakralne (Sacral music) a cappella (1993-2003)
- Stabat Mater for 3 mixed choires (1994, 2008)
- Dominum benedicite in aeternum... for mixed choir, winds, brass and percussion (1994)
- Kwartet smyczkowy nr 1 string quartet no 1 (1994)
- Dwa motety wielkopostne (Two lenten Motets) for choir a cappella (1995)
- Vesperae pro defunctis for Gregorian choir, two mixed choirs, organ and orchestra (1995, 2011)
- Kruk w kąpieli (Crow in a bath) children choir (1995-2002)
- Antiphone for mixed choir a cappella (1995-99)
- Warszawski wiatr (Warsaw wind) for mixed choir (1996)
- Koncert na organy (lub fortepian) i orkiestrę smyczkową (Concerto for organ or piano and string orchestra) (1996, 2008)
- Recordationes de Christo moriendo for mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra (1996)
- Pieśni kościelne (Church songs) for voice and organ (1996-2000)
- Beatus vir for mixed choir (1996, 2007)
- Dwie pieśni sakralne (Two sacral songs) for baritone and piano (1996-2005)
- Gaudium et spes for soprano, mixed choir and orchestra (1997)
- Koncert na orkiestrę smyczkową 'Bronisław Huberman in memoriam' concerto for violin orchestra (1997, 2006)
- Missa pro Patria for soprano, mezzo-soprano, mixed choir, percussion, brass orchestra (1997)
- Symfonia nr 1 - 'Symphony of Providence' for soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra (1997, 2008)
- Antiophonae for female choir (1997-2004)
- Kolędy (Christmas Carols) for a cappella female choir (1998-2001)
- Souvenir I for organ (1999, 2007)
- Souvenir II for piano (1999, 2007)
- Jesu Christi prostrationes for mixed choir (1999)
- Via crucis for tenor, baritone, mixed choir, orchestra, recitation (2000)
- Kwartet smyczkowy nr2 (String Quartet no2) (2000)
- Dwa motety na Boże Narodzenie (Two motifs for Christmas) for female choir (2000)
- Divertimento for string orchestra (2000-2005)
- Trzy modlitwy prawosławne (Three orthodox prayers) for female choir (2001-2003)
- Stadium for piano (2002)
- Hommage à Edith Stein for mixed choir (2002)
- Haiku for soprano and piano (2002)
- Elogium - pomordowanym w Katyniu (Elogium - for the massacred in Katyń) for baritone, cello (or bassoon), bells, string orchestra (2002-2005)
- Symfonia nr 2 - Festinemus amare homines for two sopranos, two mixed choirs, two pianos and orchestra (2002-2005)
- Psalmy (Psalms) for mixed choir (2002, 2008)
- Ave maris stella for mixed choir (2003)
- Moai for flute (2003)
- Exsultet for soprano, mezzo-soprano, female choir, and orchestra (2003)
- Gloria Gentis - Beatus vir Zygmunt Szczęsny-Feliński [version I] for mixed choir (2003, 2007)
- Gloria Gentis - Beatus vir Zygmunt Szczęsny-Feliński [version II] for female choir (2003, 2007)
- Salvete flores Martyrum for two female choirs, two pianos, percussion, (2004)
- Kwartet smyczkowy nr 3 (String Quartet no3) (2004)
- Offertorium for organ (2004)
- Sinfonietta for string orchestra (2004)
- Veni Creator for two mixed choirs (2004)
- Messa for choir and brass or choir with organ (2004)
- Pearl of Wisdom for two pianos (2005)
- Magnificat for cello and mixed choir (2005)
- Symfonia nr 2 'Festinemus amare homines’ (2005)
- Divertimento for chamber orchestra 2006
- Souvenir III for marimbaphone 2006
- Terra nova et caelum novum for mixed choir and strings (2007)
- Magnificat & Nunc dimittis for saxophone, mixed choir and orchestra (2007)
- Nunc dimittis for mixed choir (2007)
- Un cadeau for celesta, marimba, harpsichord, piano, and organ (2007)
- Concertino [version I] for piano and brass instruments 2007
- Trinity Concerto for oboe (or soprano saxophone) and string orchestra 2007
- Souvenir IV for harpsichord 2007
- Souvenir V for celesta 2007
- Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum for soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone, mixed choir, and symphonic orchestra (2007-2008)
- Miserere for soprano, mixed choir, and orchestra (2008)
- Trio na skrzypce, wiolonczelę i fortepian (Trio for violin, cello and piano) (2008)
- Genome for string orchestra (2008)
- Utopia for symphonic orchestra (2008)
- Two Funeral Psalms for choir a cappella (2008)
- Concertino [version II] for organ and brass (2009)
- Adagietto for string orchestra (2009)
- Laudate Dominum for female choir and organ (2009)
- Salve Regina for two mixed choirs (2009)
- Pięć żałobnych pieśni kurpiowskich (5 Kurpian funeral songs) [version I] for mixed choir (2009)
- Symfonia nr 3 'Symphony of Angels’ for soprano, mixed choir, and orchestra (2010)
- Missa de Maria a Magdala for soprano, baritone, mixed choir, organ, and orchestra (2010)
- Pięć żałobnych pieśni kurpiowskich (5 Kurpian funeral songs) [version II] for mixed choir (or female choir) and orchestra (2010)
- Luctus Mariae for soprano, mezzo-soprano, (or female choir), harpsicord, and string quartet (or string orchestra) (2010)
- Responsoria Tenebrae for six male voices or mixed choir (2010)
- Cena Domini for mixed choir (2010)
- Icon for organ (2010)
- Vesperae pro defunctis for baritone, mixed choir, organ, and orchestra (2011)
- Motette for mixed choir (2011)
- Lamentationes for mixed choir (2011)
- Ave Maria, gratia plena for female choir and string quartet (2011)
- Lenten music for six saxophones (2011)
- Resurrectio (2012)
- Prayer to the Guardian Angel for mixed choir, chinese bells, and harp (2012)
- Deus misereatur nostri (2012)
- Three orthodox prayers (2012)
- Advent music (2012)
- Luctus Mariae for soprano and organ (2012)
- Daylight declines (2013)
- Oratio pro adventus (2013)
- Idiom 2013
- Piano quintet 2013
Official website of the composer: www.lukaszewski.org.uk
Author: Małgorzata Kosińska, Polish Music Information Centre, Association of Polish Composers, August 2002; update December 2011, trans.GS 21/08/2014
