Jan Andrzej Paweł Kaczmarek (; born 29 April 1953) is a Polish composer. He has written scores for more than 70 feature films and documentaries, including '' Finding Neverland'' (2004), for which score he won an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

and a

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

Award. Other notable scores were for '' Hachi: A Dog's Tale'', '' Unfaithful'', ''

Evening Evening is the period of a day that starts at the end of the afternoon and overlaps with the beginning of night. The exact times when evening begins and ends depend on location, time of year, and culture, but it is generally regarded as beginn ...

'', '' The Visitor'', and '' Washington Square''.

Early life and education

Jan A.P. Kaczmarek was born in 1953 in

Konin Konin (german: Kunau) is a city in central Poland, on the Warta River. It is the capital of Konin County and is located within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. Prior to 1999, it was the capital of the Konin Voivodeship (1975–1998). In 2021 the p ...

, Poland. Studying music from an early age, he graduated with a law degree, specializing in

legal theory Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning ...

and

philosophy of law Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophy that examines the nature of law and law's relationship to other systems of norms, especially ethics and political philosophy. It asks questions like "What is law?", "What are the criteria for legal val ...

, from

Adam Mickiewicz University Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

(1977).

Career

In the late 1970s, Kaczmarek started working with

Jerzy Grotowski Jerzy Marian Grotowski (; 11 August 1933 – 14 January 1999) was a Polish theatre director and theorist whose innovative approaches to acting, training and theatrical production have significantly influenced theatre today. He was born in Rzesz ...

and his innovative Theater Laboratory. He created the Orchestra of the Eighth Day in 1977. He recorded his first album, ''Music for the End'' (1982), for the United States (US) company

Flying Fish Records Flying Fish Records was a record label founded in Chicago in 1974 that specialized in folk, blues, and country music. In the 1990s the label was sold to Rounder Records. Bruce Kaplan, the label's founder, was a native of Chicago and the son of ...

. In 1989, Kaczmarek moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in the US. In 1992 he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play for his incidental music for ''

'Tis Pity She's a Whore ''Tis Pity She's a Whore'' (original spelling: ''Tis Pitty Shee's a Who'' 'ore'') is a tragedy written by John Ford. It was first performed or between 1629 and 1633, by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Cockpit Theatre. The play was first publ ...

''. His music has been released by

Sony Classical Sony Classical is an American record label founded in 1924 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. In 1980, the Columbia Masterworks label was renamed as CBS Masterworks Records. The CBS Records Group was acquired by ...

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...

, Verve, Epic,

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, and Savitor Records. He gives concerts in the United States and Europe. In 2005, Kaczmarek received the Academy Award for Best Original Score for '' Finding Neverland'', directed by

Marc Forster Marc Forster (born 30 November 1969) is a Swiss filmmaker. He is best known for directing the feature films '' Monster's Ball'', '' Finding Neverland'', '' Stranger than Fiction'', ''The Kite Runner'', '' Quantum of Solace'', ''World War Z'', and ...

, on which he worked with music editor Christopher Kennedy, among others. Kaczmarek also won the

award for Best Score of the Year and was nominated for a Golden Globe and the BAFTA's Anthony Asquith Award for Achievement in Film Music. In addition to his work in films, Kaczmarek was commissioned to write two symphonic and choral pieces for two important national occasions in Poland: ''Cantata for Freedom'' (2005) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Solidarity movement, and ''Oratorio 1956'' (2006) to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a bloody uprising against totalitarian government in Poznań, Poland. Both premieres were broadcast live on Polish national television. Other concert works of the composer include ''Jankiel's Concert'', ''The Open Window'' and ''Fanfare A2''. On 10 May 2014, the world premiere of ''Universa – Open Opera'', an opera written for the 650th anniversary of the Jagiellonian University, was held in Krakow's Main Square. Jan's last monumental work, ''Emigra - The Neverending Symphony'', was performed in February 2017 in

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...

, Poland. Kaczmarek is a member of the

American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

European Film Academy The European Film Academy is an initiative of a group of European filmmakers who came together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988. The Academy—under the name of European Cinema Soc ...

and

Polish Film Academy The Polish Film Academy (Polish: ''Polska Akademia Filmowa'') is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures. History The Academy, founded in 2003, is composed of about 600 mo ...

. In 2007, Kaczmarek began working to set up a film institute in his home country of Poland. Inspired by the

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and composers fr ...

, he intends for the new institute to serve as a European center for the development of new work in film, theater, music and new media. His Instytut Rozbitek (Rozbitek Institute) opened in 2010. On 1 July 2015, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievement ...

for his outstanding artistic accomplishments and for promoting Polish culture abroad. Kaczmarek is the founder and director of the

Transatlantyk Festival The Transatlantyk Festival (previously: Transatlantyk - Poznań; International Film and Music Festival) is an annual film festival held in Łódź (from 2011 to 2015 in Poznań and Rozbitek, Poland). The founder and director of the festival is P ...

, held yearly in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

, Poland.

Works

Film

Television

Awards

References

External links

Jan A.P. Kaczmarek - Official Site
*
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
at Culture.pl {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaczmarek, Jan 1953 births Living people People from Konin Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Polish male classical composers Polish film score composers Male film score composers Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań alumni Varèse Sarabande Records artists