Andrzej Szpilman

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Andrzej Szpilman (2010)
Andrzej Szpilman at the commemorative concert for the 10th anniversary of his father's death at Wikimania 2010 in Gdańsk

Andrzej Szpilman (born March 28, 1956 in Warsaw , Poland ) is a Polish composer , music producer , publisher and dentist. He is a son of the pianist and composer Władysław Szpilman and a member of GEMA and SSA (Société Suisse des Auteurs).

life and career

Andrzej Szpilman began his music education in 1962 with Stefan Kawalla (violin) and continued it from 1965 to 1974 at the 4th State Music School in Warsaw (class of Nasalska - violin, later viola). He made his first music recordings in 1976 for the Polish Radio . During this time he composed songs (including "Słońce tego lata", "Od dnia do dnia" - lyrics by Renata Maklakiewicz, "Gandzia" / "Andzia i ja" (Marcin Ciepiel) and "Wygląda to na żart" with (K. Winkler )) for the most popular Polish singers: Irena Santor , Hanna Banaszak , Grażyna Świtała , Bogusław Mec , J. Kruk (formerly “ 2 plus 1 ”) and others.

From 1980 he produced some music programs for television stations, in 1983 an album by the rock group " Oddział Zamknięty " ( Closed Department ). It was sold over 450,000 times and won the "1983 Golden Plate". In addition to his artistic activities, Andrzej Szpilman graduated from the Medical Academy in Warsaw in 1983 with a degree in dentistry .

In 1983 he moved to Hamburg and worked until 1988 as a research assistant in the Department of Conservative Dentistry at the University of Hamburg. He then continued his work in his own dental practice in Hamburg-Altona and later in Weil am Rhein .

Andrzej Szpilman founded a music studio in Altona in 1987, where he continued to work on his compositions. At that time he composed the ballet music "Incense" (choreography Gamal Gouda ) for the Hamburg State Opera as well as soundtracks for the television films "I tam zostanę już na zawsze" and "Kolejka" as well as some songs for the Polish radio. From 1995 to 2004 Andrzej Szpilman worked on remastering the complete recordings (1968–1997 - 21 CDs) by the songwriter Wolf Biermann and recorded his other CDs.

"The pianist"

In 1998 Andrzej Szpilman published the diary of his father Władysław Szpilman “The Pianist” at the German publishing house “Econ-Ullstein-List”. Shortly thereafter, the British edition from the publisher "Weidenfeld-Orion" followed. "The Pianist" immediately gained recognition as an important document on the Holocaust and quickly rose to the international bestseller lists. It has been recognized as book of the year by several international newspapers (LA Times, Washington Post, Independent, ELLE, Wallstreet Journal, Lire). To date, it has been translated into more than 35 languages. From 2000–2002, Szpilman worked as a freelancer for the Polish Radio, organized several TV concerts and hosted a monthly talk show: “Microphone for Everyone”. During this time Andrzej Szpilman supported the production of the Roman Polański film “ The Pianist ” and later worked on the film's promotion in the USA, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Poland.

Since 2002 he has worked as an independent producer for Universal Music, Sony Classics and Shermanrecords and has released several CDs, including the music of Władysław Szpilman. Wendy Lands sings songs by the pianist (2002) (Universal Music); Original Recordings by Władysław Szpilman (2002); Works for Piano and Orchestra by Władysław Szpilman with Ewa Kupiec - piano, John Axelrod - director and the Berliner Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester (2004); and Władysław Szpilman - Legendary Recordings (2005) (Sony Classics) are just a few of them. Andrzej Szpilman is currently working on a biography and a television documentary about his father's life. Szpilman has two children and lives in Weil am Rhein .

Editorships

  • Władysław Szpilman: The wonderful survival. Warsaw memories 1939-1945 , Econ, Munich 1998 ISBN 3-430-18987-X
  • Władysław Szpilman: The pianist. My wonderful survival , Ullstein, Munich 2002 ISBN 3-548-36351-2

Discography

  • Wolf Biermann Sweet Life - Sour Life , 1996
  • Wolf Biermann Brecht, Your Later Born , 1999 (Live in Berlin-CD)
  • Wolf Biermann Paradies uff Erden - A Berlin Picture Sheet , 1999
  • Wolf Biermann Encouragement in the Quarry of Time , (Live in Berlin-CD), 2001
  • Wolf Biermann Great song from the exterminated Jewish people, reading by Yitzak Katzenelson 2004 (Live in Zurich-CD)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Szpilman, Andrzej
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Szpilman, Andreas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish composer, music producer and editor
DATE OF BIRTH March 28, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Warsaw , Poland