MAREK
TOPOROWSKI

He performs as a harpsichordist, organist, fortepianist and conductor.

Marek Toporowski was born in Warsaw in 1964. He teaches harpsichord at the Academies of Music in Cracow and Katowice, as well as harpsichord and organ at the Warsaw Chopin Conservatory of Music. He studied with Leszek Kędracki, Aline Zylberajch and Bob van Asperen (harpsichord), Martin Gester (basso continuo and chamber music) and Józef Serafin and Daniel Roth (organ).

He won first prize in the 1st Wanda Landowska National Harpsichord Competition, and was also a finalist of the 1st Wanda Landowska International Competition in 1994.

In 1991, he formed his own chamber ensemble Concerto Polacco—one of the pioneering ensembles of baroque music in Poland. The group very soon became the leading orchestra which was joined by the chamber choir Sine Nomine specializing in performing baroque cantatas and oratorios. With those two ensembles, Marek Toporowski made numerous recordings of early Polish music, including such works as the opera Agatka by Johann David Holland, the oratorio Christiani poenitentes ad sepulchrum Domini by Jan Tomasz Żebrowski, and sacred music by Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki, Amando Ivančič Józef Zeidler, and Marcin Józef Żebrowski.

As harpsichordist, he made the first-ever recording of Charles Noblet’s Livre de clavecin. As an organist, he records extensively on historical organs. His participation in the documentary project Orgeln in der Niederlausitz, or the first recording on the Silbermann organ in Oederan are well worth mentioning.

His latest recording—Bach’s organ trio sonatas BWV 525-530 on the historical Joachim Wagner Organ in Siedlce (a version with added continuo instruments) received the prestigious prize of the Polish recording industry—Fryderyk (the fifth time in his career).

Marek Toporowski is the chamber partner of many renowned soloists. He’s also very active in the field of preservation of national heritage. In 2012, he founded Fortepianarium—a unique collection where his own instruments are exhibited and used for concert and teaching purposes.

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