MICHAL NESTEROWICZ (b. 1974) is one of the most recognizable Polish conductors in the world. He has engagements with many leading European ensembles such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin and Tonkunstler Orchestra in Vienna. Nesterowicz has appeared on multiple occasions with Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Münchner Philharmoniker, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also worked with WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine and Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana.
He studied violin and conducting at the Music Academy in his hometown of Wrocław. In 1997, he graduated with honors from Marek Pirowski’s conducting class. He specialized at the International Bach Academy in Krakow, where he studied under Helmut Rilling in 1995. In 1998, Nesterowicz won Second Prize and the Special Prize of the Bialystok Philharmonic Orchestra for best participant in the Witold Lutosławski National Competition for Young Conductors.
A year later, he was awarded at the Sixth International Grzegorz Fitelberg Conducting Competition in Katowice and received the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Award in Katowice for the best Polish conductor. In 2008, he won the Cadaqués Orchestra European Conducting Competition in Spain. He was artistic director of the Gdańsk Philharmonic (2004–2008), Artistic Director of Orquesta Sinfónica de Chile (2008–2012), Chief Conductor of Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife (2012–2016), and First Guest Conductor of Sinfonieorchester Basel (2016–2020). He is currently holding the position of Principal Guest Conductor of Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic Orchestra in Łódź.
He has recorded albums for Polish Radio and Polish Television, as well as for many record companies, including Naxos and Channel Classics. In 2000, he was nominated for the Passport Award of Polityka magazine in the Classical Music category. In 2005, he received the Gazeta Wyborcza daily newspaper award in the Classical Music category. In 2006, he was named Conductor of the Year in Santiago, Chile.
Together with Latvian accordionist Ksenija Sidorova, he premiered and performed Dobrinka Tabakova’s Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra in Germany, Bulgaria and Austria.