prof. dr hab. Ryszard Żołędziewski

Saxophonist, educator, arranger, composer, and juror of music competitions in Europe and Asia.

He completed his studies in classical saxophone performance at the Konservatorium für Musik und Theater Bern – Hochschule der Künste Bern in Switzerland. He trained under the guidance of eminent saxophonists: Christian Roellinger (France), John Edward Kelly (USA), Iwan Roth, and Marcus Weiss (Switzerland). He also participated in Jazz Master Classes led by Jerry Bergonzi (USA). He studied the art of contemporary music composition under Henri Pousseur (Belgium) and Urs Peter Schneider (Switzerland).

He has performed over 350 solo and chamber music concerts across Europe, Asia (Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan), and North America (Canada, USA)
as a soloist, he has appeared with orchestras in Austria, Belgium, Belarus, the Netherlands, Israel, Canada, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

He has made numerous radio and television recordings, released four CDs, published an original scientific monograph in Polish and English, four scholarly articles (in Polish, English, and Russian), six educational textbooks, and five musical arrangements.

He conducts masterclasses for students of higher music institutions in Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Spain, the Netherlands, Israel, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Sweden, Ukraine, USA, Uzbekistan, and Hungary. He also leads a saxophone class as part of the summer music courses in Duszniki-Zdrój and the Summer Academy of the Young Artist in Wrocław. Over nearly 35 years of teaching, he has trained many outstanding saxophonists who have won awards at prestigious music competitions in Europe and Asia.

At the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, he holds the position of professor, where he teaches classical saxophone and serves as Head of the Department of Wind Instruments, Percussion, and Accordion. He is also the Chairman of the Association of Polish Musicians – Wrocław Branch and the Artistic Director of the International Music Festival – European Saxophone Forum.

For his contributions to musical culture, he has been honored by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the Rector of the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, the Rector
of the P. I. Tchaikovsky National Music Academy in Kyiv, the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine in Kyiv, and the Rector of Daugavpils University in Latvia.

For his overall artistic, scientific, and educational achievements, he was awarded the Bronze Cross of Merit by the President of the Republic of Poland.