Grzegorz Fitelberg

Who was Grzegorz Fitelberg?

Grzegorz Fitelberg was a Polish conductor, violinist and composer. He was a member of the Młoda Polska group, together with artists such as Karol Szymanowski, Ludomir Różycki and Mieczysław Karłowicz.

Fitelberg was born into a Polish-Jewish family, in Daugavpils, Latvia. In 1908 he conducted in the Warsaw Opera, in 1912 in the Vienna Opera. During the first war he collaborated with Ballets Russes; he conducted the first performance of Mavra of Igor Stravinsky. From 1921 to 1934 he was the chief conductor of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, excessively promoting new music. In 1935 he organized the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. He died in Katowice, Poland.

His son was the Polish-American composer Jerzy Fitelberg, who predeceased him.

The Grzegorz Fitelberg International Competition for Conductors, one of most important music competitions in Poland, takes place in the Silesian Philharmonic since 1979.