ORATORIO CONCERT

Piotr GAJEWSKI is Music Director and Conductor of the National Philharmonic, in residence at the Music Center at Strathmore outside Washington, D.C. Gajewski is widely credited with building the Philharmonic into one of the Washington metropolitan area's most respected ensembles and bringing it national recognition. He has been hailed by The Washington Post as an "immensely talented and insightful conductor, whose standards, taste and sensitivity are impeccable."
Under Gajewski's leadership the Philharmonic has also become a major force in education through its "all kids, all free, all the time" initiative; summer institutes for young string players and singers; master classes with visiting artists; and a concerto competition for high-school students. Each year more than 20,000 primary-school children attend the Philharmonic's specially designed youth concerts led by Maestro Gajewski.
In addition to his work with the National Philharmonic, Gajewski is much in demand as a guest conductor, having recently conducted orchestras that include the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Warsaw Philharmonic and most other major orchestras in his native Poland. About his debut in Buffalo, the Buffalo News reported: "His courtly, conservative movements matched the music's mood. A flick of his finger, and a fanfare sounded. He held up his palm, and the musicians quieted. It was like watching a race car in the hands of a good driver." Gajewski's credits also include opera engagements.
In 2007 Maestro Gajewski was the only American on the jury of Poland's 8th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Competition for Conductors. He returned for the 9th Fitelberg Competition in 2012.
He has conducted many important world premieres, including works by Steven Gerber, Joel Hoffman, Andreas Makris, Gerhard Samuel, and Peter Ware. His recording on the Koch International label of Steven Gerber's Violin Concerto, Cello Concerto, and Serenade for String Orchestra with the National Chamber Orchestra garnered enthusiastic reviews.
Born in Poland, Gajewski began studying piano at age four. After immigrating to the United States in 1969, he continued his studies at the Preparatory Division of New England Conservatory; at Carleton College in Minnesota; and at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He refined his conducting skills as a Leonard Bernstein Conducting Fellow at Tanglewood Music Center in 1983. His teachers there included Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, André Previn, Gunther Schuller, Gustav Meier, and Maurice Abravanel.
Gajewski's many honors include a prize at New York's prestigious Leopold Stokowski Conducting Competition, and, in 2006, Montgomery County's Comcast Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Achievement Award, and – for distinguished contribution to promoting polish culture – the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.
A true renaissance man, when away from music Gajewski continues to play competitive soccer. The artist holds a law degree and a license to practice law in two states. Moreover in the years 2007-2011 he served on his hometown (Rockville, Maryland) City Council.

Łukasz DŁUGOSZ studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris and at Yale University in New Haven. He has won many prestigious international flute competitions, including
contests in Paris, Munich, Odense and Viggiano.
Łukasz Długosz has appeared as a soloist in Europe, Japan, China and the United States, and collaborated with distinguished conductors, including Zubin Mehta,
Krzysztof Penderecki, Jacek Kaspszyk, Mariss Jansons, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Helmuth Rilling, Jerzy Maksymiuk and Gabriel Chmura.
The artist has performed in many prestigious music centres, including Carnegie Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Munich Philharmonic-Gasteig Carl-Orff-Saal, Herkulessaal
Munich, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Villa Reale in Milan, and the Santa Cecilia Concert Hall in Rome.
He has recorded for Polish, German and French radio stations and a number of important record companies.
The artist has been awarded the Gasteig-Musikpreis, Zeit-Preis, Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, Rosenberg-Stiftung, Otto Chelius-Stiftung, an artistic scholarship of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland and the artistic
scholarship of the president of Poland.

Agata DŁUGOSZ graduate of the Academy of Music in Krakow, Hochschule für Musik in Weimar, Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, and Yale University in New Haven (USA).
She has perfected her technique attending numerous flute master courses, including those conducted by Peter-Lukas Graf, James Galway, Jeanne Baxtresser, Jean Claude Gérard, Jacques Zoon, Peter Lloyd, and Ransom Wilson.
She is the laureate of many prestigious international competitions such as the Leonardo de Lorenzo in Viggiano (Italy), Friedrich Kuhlau in Uelzen (Germany) as well as the ones held in Padua (Italy), Ovada (Italy) and Timisoara (Romania).
She was the principal flute of the Bayerisches Symphonieorchester München. She is affiliated with the Münchener Kammerorchester and Bach Collegium München. She has performed under the baton of such eminent conductors as Sir Colin Davis, Jacek Kaspszyk, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Mariss Jansons, Helmuth Rilling and Christoph Poppen.
As a soloist and chamber musician, she performs in Europe and in the US. She has often been the first one to perform works of music dedicated to her by Polish and international composers. She runs master courses in Poland, Germany and the US. Since 2007, she has been a member of faculty at the Academy of Music in Krakow. Since 2006, she has been a member of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation.
She has received numerous awards and scholarships for her outstanding artistic achievements, including those granted by the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, Fulbright Commission, Katholischer Akademischer Ausländer-Dienst, Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage, All Flutes Plus, Jeunesses Musicales, Top Wind and Stiftung für Musik Zürich.
In 2013, she was awarded with a doctoral degree at the Academy of Music in Krakow.