prof. dr hab. Ryszard Żołędziewski

Saxophonist, pedagogue, arranger, composer and juror of music competitions in Europe and Asia. Studied saxophone at Konservatorium für Musik und Theater Bern – Hochschule der Künste Bern in Switzerland. He developed his saxophone playing skills with such outstanding saxophonists as Christian Roellinger (France), John Edward Kelly (USA), Iwan Roth and Marcus Weiss (Switzerland). He also participated in the Jazz Master Class conducted by Jerry Bergonzi (USA) and studied contemporary music, its artistry and composer’s technique, with Henri Pousseur (Belgium) and Urs Peter Schneider (Switzerland).

With saxophone recitals or as a chamber musician, he has performed in over 300 concerts at international music festivals in most European countries, in Israel, Canada, Kazakhstan, Russia and the USA. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras in Austria (Vienna), Belgium (Antwerp), Belarus (Minsk), the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Utrecht), Israel (Jerusalem, Tel Aviv – Herzliya), Canada (Toronto), Kazakhstan (Almaty), Latvia (Riga, Daugavpils, Liepaja), Poland (Wrocław, Jelenia Góra, Opole, Gorzów Wielkopolski), Russia (Ekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk) and Ukraine (Kiev, Kharkiv). He participated in recordings for radio and television, recorded 4 CDs and published his own scientific monograph in Polish and English, 4 scientific articles (in Polish, English and Russian), 6 educational books and 5 music studies. Ryszard Żołędziewski conducts saxophone master classes and lectures at music universities in Austria (Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien; University of Music and Performing Arts Graz), Belgium (Koninklijk Conservatorium Antwerpen), Belarus (Belarusian State Academy of Music in Minsk), Estonia (Estonian Academy of Music and Theater – Tallinn), Finland (Sibelius Academy – Uniarts Helsinki), Georgia (V. Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire), Spain (Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid), the Netherlands (HKU Utrechts Conservatorium), Israel (Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance), Kazakhstan (Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory – Almaty), Lithuania (Šiauliai Academy of Vilnius University), Latvia (Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music in Riga; Daugavpils University), Germany (Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin; Universität der Künste Berlin), Poland (Academy of Arts in Szczecin, K. Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, I. J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań), Russia (State Institute for Art of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation in Moscow; I. Ivanov State Musical Pedagogical Institute in Moscow; Mussorgsky Ural State Conservatory in Yekaterinburg); Slovakia (Akadémia umení in Banská Bystrica), Sweden (Royal College of Music in Stockholm), Ukraine (Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine – Kyiv; Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts; Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University; National Dragomanov University in Kyiv), USA (Sonoma State University) and Hungary (F. Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest) and is a lecturer of summer music courses in Duszniki-Zdrój.

Over the course of over 30 years of teaching, he has educated many excellent saxophonists and musicians who have repeatedly won prestigious music competitions in Europe and Asia. Ryszard Żołędziewski leads the saxophone class and is the Head of the Brass Instruments, Percussion and Accordion Department at the Karol Lipinski Academy of Music in Wrocław in Poland. He is also the President of the Wrocław Branch of the Association of Polish Artists Musicians and the Artistic Director of the European Saxophone Forum. He is a supervisor and reviewer in doctoral and habilitation proceedings, as well as a member of numerous doctoral committees. He was awarded by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the Rector of the P. I. Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music in Kiev, the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine in Kiev and the Rector of Daugavpils University in Latvia for promoting musical culture in Ukraine and Latvia. For his entire artistic, scientific and teaching activity, he was awarded the Bronze Cross of Merit by the decision of the President of the Republic of Poland.