Michal Klauza

Michał Klauza is a major figure on the conducting scene in Poland and beyond, active equally often in opera, orchestral music, and choral music. He is the music director of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Klauza was born in Puławy, Poland, on November 5, 1973. He attended the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, studying conducting with Ryszard Dudek. After graduating, he went on to the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he studied with Ilya Musin. Klauza also participated in master classes with Kurt Redel in Rome (in 1996) and Valery Gergiev in Rotterdam (in 1997). In 1998, he landed a position as conductor at the Grand Theater in Warsaw, remaining there until 2003. The following year, he became the conductor and deputy music director at the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff. In addition to his many appearances in Poland, Klauza has also frequently been seen in both Russia and the United Kingdom. Klauza left Cardiff in 2009 to become second conductor of the Polish Radio Symphony in Katowice, and he was elevated to chief conductor and music director there in 2016. He also served as music director of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic from 2013 to 2015. In 2013, he made his solo recording debut, backing harpist Anna Sikorzak-Olek on the album 20th-Century Polish Harp Concertos. Klauza has appeared widely as a guest conductor in both operatic and symphonic performances. In the operatic realm, he has been heard at Covent Garden in London and the National Opera of Ukraine in Kyiv as well as with various Polish companies, and he has appeared with the Sinfonia Varsovia in Warsaw, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse in France, and the State Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation and Moscow Philharmonic in Russia. Klauza has led the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra on several recordings, including 2022's Polish Accordion Concertos: Blazewicz, Majkusiak, Przybylski, where he backed accordionist Klaudiusz Baran.
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