Krzysztof Urbaniak

Krzysztof Urbaniak studied organ with Prof. Józef Serafin and harpsichord with Prof. Leszek Kędracki at the State Music Conservatoire in Warsaw, completing his studies with Distinction. He also gained Distinctions in further studies (Artistic Diploma and Konzertexamen) at the State Conservatoire for Music and the Arts in Stuttgart (organ with Prof. Ludger Lohmann, harpsichord with Prof. Jörg Halubek). He completed his Doctorate in 2012 at the State Music Conservatoire in Kraków. He currently works as Associate Professor at the State Music Conservatoires in Łódz and Kraków. He is also active as teacher on organ master classes in Poland and in Germany, as well as jury member of Polish and international organ competitions (Katowice, Poznań, Alkmaar).       
Krzysztof Urbaniak has won numerous prizes in various competitions, among others:
1st Prize at the Arp Schnitger Organ Competition in Bremen (2010),       
1st Prize at the Willem Hermans Organ Competition in Pistoia (2009),   
2nd Prize at the Franz Schmidt Organ Competition in Kitzbuhel (2006),   
2nd Prize at the Petr Eben Organ Competition in Opava (2004)   
and 1st Prize in the Polish Organ Music Competition in Legnica (2002).  
As well as this he is the recipient of the Rectors‘ Conference Prize from the Polish Academy of Sciences in Łódz (2013), the Ministers for Sciences and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland Scholarship (2011), the "Łódzkie Eureka" Prize (2011), the “Młoda Polska” Scholarship (2009), the Cusanuswerk Foundation Scholarship (2008), the Fellowship of the Keymjung University in Korea (2006), as well as the Minsters’ for Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland Scholarship (2005, 2006). In 2013 Krzysztof Urbaniak was appointed Artist in Residence at the Artur Rubinstein Philharmonic in Łódź, where he has Saxon Baroque organ built by Kristian Wegscheider (Dresden/Germany) and a symphonic organ built by Rieger (Schwarzach/Austria) at his disposal. Also in 2013 he founded the Organ Festival at the historic 1719 Hildebrandt Organ in Pasłęk, for which he is also the Artistic Director.
Alongside his intensive international concert activity, he has published diverse academic articles about historic organ building and various aspects of performance practice. As an organ consultant he supervises organ restorations and new building projects, and is the organ expert of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.