graduated in conducting, music theory and composition from the State High School of Music in Warsaw in 1975. In the same year he made his conducting debut at Warsaw’s Grand Theatre – National Opera in a premiere of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. In 1976 he was appointed principal guest conductor of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Duüseldorf. The following year he won the 3rd Prize at the prestigious Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition in Berlin, which led to his debuts with the Berlin and New York Philharmonics (1978) and the appointments to the posts of principal conductor (1978) and music director (1980) of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR), with which he toured extensively in Europe.
In 1982 he moved to London, where he made his debut at the Royal Festival Hall with the Philharmonia Orchestra. He then worked closely with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Capital Radio’s Wren Orchestra (as principal conductor), appeared as guest conductor notably with the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Halle, Royal Scottish National, BBC Scottish, and BBC National Orchestra of Wales (with whom he made his BBC Proms debut in 1984). He also appeared in the United States with the Cincinnati Symphony and San Diego Symphony, Canada with Calgary Philharmonic and Winnipeg Symphony, Japan with Yomiuri Nippon Symphony and Tokyo Philharmonic, and performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and New Zealand Symphony orchestras.
In 1998 Jacek Kaspszyk was appointed artistic and music director (as well as managing director in 2002) of the Grand Theatre – National Opera in Warsaw. In the Grand Theatre, he staged new productions of e.g. Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and The Miraculous Mandarin, Szymanowski’s King Roger, Penderecki’s Ubu Rex, Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust, Richard Strauss’s Salome, and Berg’s Wozzeck. The company appeared at the Beijing Festival, Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London (2004), Hong Kong Arts Festival (2005), and Castell de Peralada Festival in Spain (2006) as well as on three tours of Japan. Kaspszyk has also prepared and conducted opera productions for such renowned music theatres as the English National Opera, Opera North Leeds, Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, Opéra Comique in Paris, Opéra de Lyon, Opéra de Bordeaux, Zurich Opera, Stockholm Opera, Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. In 2006–8 he worked closely with the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet in Vilnius, taking this ensamble to festivals in Ljubljana, Ravenna and to the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv.
His King Roger performances at the Grand Theatre – National Opera were presented as part of the I, Culture programme to celebrate the inauguration of Poland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union in July 2011. Another highlight was the series of Jacek Kaspszyk’s appearances with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Chopin and His Europe Festival. In 2011, in recognition of his outstanding interpretations of the English composer’s works, Jacek Kaspszyk was granted the prestigious Elgar Medal, previously awarded to such eminent artists as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Andrew Litton, and Leonard Slatkin.
In 2006–13, Jacek Kaspszyk was the artistic director of the Witold Lutosławski Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in Wrocław, and in 2009–12, music director of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice.
His latest guest contracts include a return to the Vienna Symphony Orchestra for a concert at Bregenz Festival (2012), performances at Festival de la Roque d’Anthéron and appearances with Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana at the Lugano Festival. He also regularly conducts ensembles in the Far East. He inaugurated the 2011/12 season with China Philharmonic and Guangzhou Symphony, and made his debut with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra at a concert featuring the pianist Stephen Kovacevich. In recent seasons he has returned to Malaysia and appeared for the first time with KBS Orchestra in Seoul. He has also given performances in Great Britain (with Opera North, Leeds), with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and China Philharmonic, at the Lugano Festival, has toured Britain with NOSPR, and has appeared at the 2014 Kissinger Sommer with the Warsaw Philharmonic.
Jacek Kaspszyk’s extensive discography includes a recording of Rossini’s Il Signor Bruschino with Warsaw Chamber Opera, the Edison Prize-winning recording of Baird’s Concerto lugubre with NOSPR, as well as several CDs for Collins Classics with four London orchestras: London Symphony (Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Mahler’s Symphony no. 1 and Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra), Philharmonia Orchestra (Rachmaninov’s Symphony no. 2 and Verdi’s opera overtures), London Philharmonic (music by J. Strauss Jr. as well as Schubert’s Symphony no. 5 and 8), and the Royal Philharmonic (Puccini’s Interludes). Kaspszyk also regularly performs with Martha Argerich, notably at the Lugano Festival; together, they have recorded an album of music by Chopin. His recording of Lutosławski’s Symphony no. 2 and 4 with Wrocław Philharmonic received the Fryderyk Award in 2011. With the Grand Theatre – National Opera, Kaspszyk released several highly acclaimed albums, of which Szymanowski’s King Roger for CD Accord was nominated by the BBC Music Magazine Record of the Year in 2006.
Since 1 September 2013, Jacek Kaspszyk has held the post of artistic director at Warsaw Philharmonic. In February 2014, he won the audience award of the Gazeta Wyborcza daily as Man of the Year.