Jan Krzywicki, composer

Jan Krzywicki is active as a composer, conductor and educator. His works have been widely performed by ensembles such as the Colorado Quartet, the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Chestnut Brass Company; at conferences of the Society of Composers Inc., the College Music Society; and on National Public Radio. He has received commissions from prestigious performers and organizations, and is the recipient of ASCAP, Meet the Composer, Aaron Copland Fund awards, and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts. His work is published by Alphonse Leduc Cie, Theodore Presser Co., Penn Oak Press, Lyra Music Company, and Heilman Music, and can be heard on the Capstone, Albany, North/South, and De Haske labels. As a conductor he has led chamber and orchestral groups in literature from the Middle Ages to the present, and since 1990 has been particularly active as conductor for the contemporary ensemble Network for New Music, leading a large number of local and world premieres. Mr. Krzywicki is a member of the music theory department at Temple University's Esther Boyer College of Music.

Mr. Krzywicki composed the Fantasy for Tuba and Strings in 1964 when he was 16 years old, on the suggestion of Abe Torchinsky, then principal tubist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The brief piece consists of two contrasting movements: the first a lyrical Andante, and the second an animated Allegro that includes a fugal interlude for the strings. Both movements reflect the influence of Prokofiev and Bartok, who were early influences on the composer. The piece was first performed by Paul Krzywicki, the composer's brother and Torchinsky student, with the Philadelphia Orchestra on a children's concert in December 1965.