Meet Mariusz Smolij

Mariusz Smolij is considered one of the most exciting conductors of his generation. Praised by the New York Times for "compelling performances" he has led over 100 orchestras in 27 countries, on five continents appearing in some of the most prestigious concert halls of the world. In the United States he conducted the major orchestras of Atlanta, Houston, New Jersey, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Rochester, New Orleans, Indianapolis, among many others. Internationally, he enjoys notable reputation appearing with major symphonic ensembles of Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Holland, Israel, South Africa, Canada, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Poland. His most recent engagements include collaborations with the Sinfonieorchester Basel, Switzerland (CD recording and series of concerts including the Tonhalle in Zurich); a residency with the Johannesburg Philharmonic in South Africa; concerts and Naxos recordings with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra; performances with Florence Chamber Orchestra in Italy; Israel Symphony Orchestra, National Orchestras of Serbia, Bolivia and Columbia, tour of China with the Tianjin Conservatory Orchestra as well as numerous orchestras in his native Poland. Maestro Smolij is in his seventh season as the Music Director of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra in Lafayette, Louisiana and his fourteenth season as the Music Director of the Riverside Symphonia in New Jersey.

For over a decade, Maestro Smolij was permanent conductor with acclaimed orchestras and musical institutions in the United States and Europe. Between 2000 and 2003, at the invitation of Maestro Christoph Eschenbach, he served as the Resident Conductor of the Houston Symphony, where he led the orchestra in over one hundred concerts presenting an impressive and wide gamut of orchestral repertoire. He served as the assistant conductor of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (1994-1997) where he led the ensemble in over one hundred and twenty performances receiving the highest accolades from critics and public alike.

Maestro Smolij served on the faculty of the School of Music at Northwestern University in Chicago-Evanston as a professor of conducting and director of the chamber orchestra from 1996 to 2000. At that time he was the youngest full-time conducting faculty member among the top conservatories and universities in North America.

In Europe, Maestro Smolij has been closely associated with one of Eastern Europe's most renowned orchestras, the Wroclaw (Breslau) Philharmonic in Poland. He is credited with restructuring the orchestra's operations and its artistic season and with introducing innovative artistic concepts as well as new repertoire. He has not only conducted this orchestra in Poland, but he successfully led it during foreign tours in Germany (Rheingau Music Festival), Czech Republic (Janacek May Festival), France (opening concerts in Strasbourg for "The Year of Polish Culture") as well as the United States (concerts in New York's Lincoln Center and Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, among others). Between 2002 and 2004 he presided over the International Festival Wratislavia Cantans.

In 2004 he appeared in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with the Rotterdam Chamber Orchestra, in 2002, he made his Paris conducting debut with the Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux in the prestigious Salle Gaveau and in 2001, he made his highly acclaimed debut at New York's Carnegie Hall with the Sinfonia Varsovia. His frequent collaboration with this premier Polish orchestra led to concerts on three continents; Europe, North America and Asia, and a series of recording projects featuring masterworks of Polish and American symphonic music. The first CD with music by Copland, Gershwin and Bernstein was released in 2002.

The artist regularly records for NAXOS International. The innaugural CD with music by Andrzej Panufnik (2006) was named "CD of the Week" by London Evening Standard and received high accolades in the international press. The following CDs featuring symphonic music by Tadeusz Szeligowski (2007), Miklos Rozsa (2009 & 2010) enjoyed a similer success and international accolades. The next three recordings with symphonic works of Ernest Bloch and Eugene Zador will see its worldwide distribution in 2011 and 2012.

The American Symphony Orchestra League in New York City named him to the prestigious list of the most promising young conductors in America and featured him during its special Conductors Preview.

Maestro Smolij has introduced many American audiences to several unknown works by Eastern European composers and regularly performs American orchestral music in Europe. In January 1996, he led the Polish Radio Orchestra in Krakow, Poland in an all-American program, which was broadcast to several Eastern European countries. In 2001, he led a special gala performance of American symphonic music in the Hall of National Opera Theater in Warsaw, Poland that was recorded and broadcast by both Polish and American radio stations. His recording of music by American composer Bill Karlins was issued by the Hungaroton label in 2000. With the Wroclaw Philharmonic he gave European and Polish premiers of works by American composers such as Barber, Copland, Kernis, Rouse, Ellington and others. As an extremely effective advocate and promoter of Polish music outside of his native country, Maestro Smolij frequently performs and programs works of Polish composers and organized the Polish Music Festival in Chicago in1998, which was the single largest presentation of Polish music abroad in the last quarter of century.

Maestro Smolij's reputation as a conducting pedagogue reaches both sides of the Atlantic. He is a faculty member of the International Workshops for Conductors in the Czech Republic, teaches at professional conducting seminars in the USA and Poland and was invited to present conducting master classes at the Zurich Conservatory in Switzerland.

Born near Katowice, Poland, Maestro Smolij is an accomplished violinist and was the founder and violinist of the internationally recognized Penderecki String Quartet, performing and recording with this ensemble in Poland, Germany, France, Italy and the United States. After studies in Europe he studied conducting in the United States, earning a doctorate degree from the Eastman School of Music.

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