Beginning with the 2013/14 season, he is the artistic director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra in Pamplona (where for the preceding three seasons he was principal guest conductor) as well as honorary conductor of the Cracow Philharmonic.
Before, he was the director of the Pomeranian Philharmonic (1974–77), Orchestra and Choir of Polish Radio and Television in Cracow (1977–83), Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice (1983–2000), Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria (1987–92), and general and artistic director of the Warsaw Philharmonic (2002–13). During the latter term, he led the Warsaw Philharmonic ensembles at over 450 concerts (including abroad) and recorded over 50 CDs, including 40 for Naxos. Antoni Wit studied conducting with Henryk Czyż at the State High School of Music in Cracow. He also graduated in law at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow. He began his conducting career as Witold Rowicki’s assistant at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw. After winning the 2nd Prize at the Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition in Berlin, he became Karajan’s assistant in 1971.
Antoni Wit conducted in the majority of leading venues in Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas. He has notably conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, Tonhalle in Zurich, Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia, BBC Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, NHK Symphony and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. In 2009, with the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra he inaugurated the 64th Prague Spring Festival. In recent seasons he has directed orchestras at Milan’s La Scala, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ulster Symphony, Petrobras in Rio de Janeiro, Duisburg Philharmonic, Bern Symphony, China Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony, Denver Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, Teatro Colón Orchestra in Buenos Aires, Weimar Staatskapelle, Royal Philharmonic (at the Montreux festival) and orchestras in Liège, Brussels, Bilbao and Barcelona.
In 2011 he was a member of the chapter of the Premio Príncipe de Viana de Navarra and in 2012, he was jury chair at the Grzegorz Fitelberg International Conducting Competition in Katowice.
Antoni Wit has recorded over 200 CDs, received numerous prizes including six Grammy nominations, Diapason d’Or and Grand Prix du Disque de la Nouvelle Académie, Cannes Classical Award, ICMA and four Polish Fryderyk awards. His recordings include works by Polish composers: Paderewski, Wieniawski, Karłowicz, Szymanowski, Lutosławski, Penderecki and Kilar, as well as other compositions, such as the critically acclaimed interpretations of works by Mahler and Richard Strauss. He recently recorded works by Moniuszko, Górecki, Weinberg, Brahms and Dvořák. He is one of a few Classical artists in the world to have sold over 5 million copies.
Antoni Wit is Professor of conducting at the F. Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.
