Krzysztof Meyer

• studied, among others, with Krzysztof Penderecki at the Academy of Music in Krakow
• repeatedly visited legendary composition teacher Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Dmitri Shostakovich in Moscow, of whom he later wrote an important biography
• as a trained pianist, he was a member of the Polish “Ensemble for Contemporary Music MW2”, for a time, with whom he also performed his own works
• Meyer taught at the Academy of Music in Krakow until 1987, held the chair of music theory and for a period was even its vice-rector
• from 1985 to 1989 Meyer chaired the Polish Composers’ Union
• from 1987 to 2008 Professor of Composition at the State University of Music Cologne
• in early works, Meyer dealt intensively with timbre technique and dodecaphony, then the focus of his work considerations of formal unity and the revival of melody became
• now lives in Germany

Krzysztof Meyer’s most successful works include:
Five Contredances for Two Orchestras (2013)
Au-delà d'une absence (1997) für for string quartet
Caro Luigi (1989) for solo instrument(s) and orchestra
Kyberiade (1970) Opera in three acts after Stanislaw Lem

Works by Krzysztof Meyer are published by Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski.

Looking Ahead: new CD with complete works for violin solo and violin and piano, recorded by Kolja Lessing, on the eda records label;
Portrait concert Krzysztof Meyer and Kolja Lessing (piano and interview) at the Carinthian Summer 2025 and performances von Klaviersonate Nr. 1, Misterioso, Bagatelle und Au delà d´une absence mit dem Eliot String Quartet in Ossiach (02 Aug); world premiere of Con effetto for violin solo at the Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition 2025 in Lublin (21-26 Sep)

“By nature and conviction, of course, I am a Polish composer, but at the same time I am a European. I don’t care at all whether I live in Poland or somewhere else. But when I live in Germany, I feel enriched because German musical life is incredibly wide-ranging and gives me all manner of impulses.” - Krzysztof Meyer