Michał Spisak

Polish composer Michał Spisak (1914–1965) was born in Dąbrowa Górnicza. Between 1930 and 1937, he studied violin and composition at the Katowice Conservatory. Between 1936 and 1937, he also took private composition classes from Kazimierz Sikorski in Warsaw. In 1937, Spisak received a stipend from the Silesian Music Society, and had the opportunity to study composition under Nadia Boulanger in Paris. That same year, he joined the Society of Young Polish Musicians in Paris, of which he was the vice chair after 1939. He remained in France until his death, while maintaining constant contact with his native country. In 1947, he became a member of the Polish Composers’ Union. His compositions were regularly performed during the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music, the Poznań Music Spring – International Festival of Contemporary Music, and other contemporary music festivals. They were also featured in the programmes of many philharmonic halls in Poland. Michał Spisak is the holder of numerous prizes and distinctions: twice (in 1945 and 1946) he received the Lili Boulanger Award and also twice (in 1953 for his Serenade for Orchestra from 1939 and in 1957 for Concerto Giocoso Per Orchestra Da Camera), the Grand Prix in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. In 1955 he won the Grand Prix of the International Competition for the Official Olympic Anthem in Monaco for his Hymne Olympique (1955), in 1962 – a distinction (regular prizes weren’t awarded) for Improvisazione for piano and violin (1962) at the International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Poznań, and finally in 1964 – the yearly prize of the Polish Composers’ Union.