Maciej Kotarba
Winner of First Prize and the Special Prize at the 2nd National Conducting Competition in Wrocław. He was a semi-finalist in the prestigious Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition and the 10th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Competition for Conductors. He was also one of sixteen participants selected for the 1st International Conducting Competition in Hong Kong, for which more than 330 conductors from around the world applied. He was awarded a scholarship to attend the International Conducting Courses in Lusławice, led by Colin Metters.In June 2017, he made his debut with the National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in Warsaw. He has appeared in concert with the Athens Philharmonia Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestras of the Philharmonics in Szczecin, Łódź, Częstochowa, Kielce, and Koszalin, as well as Sinfonietta Cracovia and numerous university orchestras in Poznań, Warsaw, and Wrocław. He has also conducted the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Symphony Orchestras of the Sudecka Philharmonic, Opole Philharmonic, and Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic, as well as student orchestras of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He has served as assistant conductor to many distinguished Polish conductors, including Grzegorz Nowak, Michał Klauza, Warcisław Kunc, Jan Miłosz Zarzycki, and Jakub Chrenowicz.
He has studied under the guidance of many renowned conductors. As a scholarship recipient, he attended the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, where he studied with Johannes Wildner and Uroš Lajovic. He has participated in masterclasses led by Colin Metters, Michalis Economou, Yoav Talmi, and Rafał Jacek Delekta. He graduated from the symphonic and operatic conducting class of Professor Marek Pijarowski at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. He is also a graduate of the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań, where he studied conducting with Professor Warcisław Kunc and violin with Professor Ewelina Pachucka-Mazurek.
