©Photo: Kamil Szkopik

Paweł Kapuła

Conductor

Home
Reviews
Features

“To a career that undoubtedly lies before him, Paweł Kapuła owes above all his musical sensibility, natural charisma and diligence.”
(Polska Muza, 2019)

Principal Guest Conductor: Pomeranian Philharmonic

Paweł Kapuła, hailed by Polish Radio as “a real hope for Polish conducting” is one of the most spectacular and finest conductors of the younger generation, acclaimed for his exciting, fresh, and highly captivating interpretations coupled with an excellent conducting technique. Since his highly acclaimed debut with the Warsaw Philharmonic in 2016, stepping in at last minute for Stanisław Skrowaczewski, he has conducted all the major orchestras in Poland.

Among the highlights of Paweł Kapuła’s upcoming season are engagements with the Warsaw Philharmonic and Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Katowice, debuts with Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt, Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, Transylvania State Philharmonic and a re-invitation to the Sibiu Philharmonic in Romania. Recent season highlights also include the successful opening of the Den Norske Opera Oslo’s symphonic season in September 2021, with a programme featuring Schumann, Adès and Tchaikovsky, performances with the Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra Gdańsk as well as his continued championing of neglected Polish composers in numerous recordings for Polish Radio.

In February 2021 Paweł Kapuła was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of Pomeranian Philharmonic in Bydgoszcz. Furthermore, he works with orchestras such as Sinfonia Varsovia, Sinfonia Iuventus, Capella Bydgostiensis, the Beethoven Academy Orchestra as well as the Philharmonic Orchestras of Gdańsk and Kraków. He appeared in festivals such as La folle journée in Warsaw, Probaltica in Toruń and Bydgoszcz Music Festival, where he conducted Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with Pomeranian Philharmonic at the closing concert in October 2020.

In 2018 Paweł Kapuła assisted in and prepared the première of Jan Stefani’s opera The supposed miracle directed by Michał Zadara, a prominent Polish director at Musical Theatre in Gdynia, subsequently conducting over 20 performances of the work. In 2016 he conducted Karol Kurpiński’s opera Zamek na Czorsztynie at Warsaw Chamber Opera.

He recorded his début CD with Sinfonia Varsovia in 2018, and in 2020 he also recorded Beethoven’s Symphony No.2 and Mozart’s Symphony No.39 with Pomeranian Philharmonic.

For three consecutive seasons from 2016 – 2019, Paweł Kapuła worked as Assistant Conductor at the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra to its Music Director Jacek Kaspszyk. He was also Assistant to Andrey Boreyko at the Orchestre National de Belgique.

Paweł Kapuła received his first piano lessons at the age of seven. He studied conducting with Tadeusz Strugala and Stanislaw Krawczynski at Krakow’s Academy of Music. He was a finalist and winner of the Distinction Award at the 1^st Adam Kopyciński Student Conducting Competition in Wroclaw in 2013. He is a musicology graduate of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.

HarrisonParrott represents Paweł Kapuła for worldwide general management.

Gallery

Kapuła conducts Ravel’s ‘La Valse’ (rehearsal, excerpt) © The Ignacy Jan Paderewski Pomeranian Philharmonic

Kapuła conducts Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7, Op. 70 (rehearsal, excerpt) © The Ignacy Jan Paderewski Pomeranian Philharmonic

“The young Polish guest conductor Paweł Kapuła is particularly convincing[…] He seems to carry the music with his movements, never letting the tension drop for a moment, always pushing it forward and also keeping an eye on the long line. This is absolutely fascinating to experience, and one has the feeling of having encountered a genuinely great talent. […] This impression is further reinforced near the end of the concert by Kapuła’s conducting of Franz Schubert’s 5^th Symphony. Here, too, every phrase is charged with musical energy.”

(Jesko Schulze-Reimpell, Donaukurier, 2022)

“To a career that undoubtedly lies before him, Paweł Kapuła owes above all his musical sensibility, natural charisma and diligence. What drew my attention was his contact with the orchestra, the way he looked out for every phrase but also the freedom he was offering the musicians. Paweł Kapuła has another very important quality — the sense of musical time and breaths. That’s why his rendition was natural and interesting.”

(Anna Woźniakowska, Polska Muza, 2019)

“Brilliant and young – although already experienced – the conductor led the premiere of the Double Concerto for Cello and Piano by Marta Ptaszyńska and symphonic works by Weinberg and Dvořák. Paweł Kapuła, in the manner of a sculptor brought out the hidden solo parts of woodwinds and brass, underlined the complexity of rhythms, and shaped the harmonies like sculptures.”

(Karolina Dąbek, Ruch Muzyczny, 2019)

“Two concerts led by Paweł Kapuła, a 25-year-old conductor, remain in the spotlight. His rendition in particular of the … Requiem by Maurice Duruflé highlighted his musical sensitivity and ability to lead a full-sized orchestra.”

(Jacek Marczyński, Rzeczpospolita, 2017)