Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
Photo: Toshiyuki Urano
Polish-American conductor Stanislaw Skrowaczewski has died at age 93 at a Minneapolis area hospital after suffering a stroke earlier this month.
Born in Poland he began studying piano and violin at age 4, and composed his first symphonic work at age 7. A hand injury ended his piano career. He won the International Competition for Conductors in Rome in 1956.
In 1960 he was appointed music director of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (renamed Minnesota Orchestra under his tenure in 1968). He held the position until 1979 when he became conductor laureate. Between 1983 and 1992 he was principal conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, and from 1995 to 1997 he served as artistic advisor to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He has guest-conducted many others all over the world. His complete set of recordings of the symphonies of Anton Bruckner and Ludwig van Bedethoven made with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern is among the milestones of the discography.
Die Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, deren Ehrendirigent Skrowaczewski seit 20154 war, würdigte den Dirigenten in ein er Pressemitteilung: „Wir sind sehr traurig über den endgültigen Abschied von einem wunderbaren Menschen, der mit unseren Musikern über viele Jahre hinweg künstlerisch eng verbunden war. Es bestand ein gegenseitiges Vertrauen, das jedes Konzert für das Orchester und unser Publikum zu einem großen gemeinsamen Erlebnis werden ließ. Wir werden unseren Ehrendirigenten Stanislaw Skrowaczewski stets in dankbarer Erinnerung behalten“, sagte Benedikt Fohr, Orchestermanager der DRP.
