studied conducting, music theory and composition at the Warsaw Academy of Music, graduating in 1975. He made his conducting debut in 1975 at Warsaw’s Grand Theatre–Polish 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 Düsseldorf. The following year he won the 3rd Prize at the prestigious Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition in Berlin. In 1978 he made his debut with the Berlin and New York philharmonics and was appointed Principal Conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, becoming its Musical Director in 1980.

In 1982 he moved to London where he made his debut at the Royal Festival Hall with the Philharmonia Orchestra. He worked with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Capital Radio’s Wren Orchestra (as Principal Conductor), and appeared regularly with the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Hallé, Royal Scottish National, BBC Scottish Symphony, and BBC National Orchestra of Wales with whom he made his BBC Proms debut in 1984. Throughout this period he also appeared in the USA (Cincinnati Symphony, San Diego Symphony), Canada (Calgary Philharmonic, Winnipeg Symphony), Japan (Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic), and performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and New Zealand Symphony orchestras.

Jacek Kaspszyk was appointed Artistic and Music Director of the Grand Theatre–Polish National Opera in 1998 and Managing Director in 2002. He has staged premieres of works such as 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, Strauss’s Salome, and Berg’s Wozzeck. He has conducted the Grand Theatre ensemble at venues such as the Beijing Festival (2001), Moscow’s Bolshoi, Sadler’s Wells (2004), Hong Kong Arts Festival (2005), and Peralada Festival in Spain (2006) as well as during three highly successful tours of Japan.

Kaspszyk’s career as an opera conductor has also included productions for many renowned opera houses including the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, Opéra Comique in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Stockholm, Zurich, English National Opera, Opera North Leeds, Scottish Opera, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, and Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville. In 2006–8 he worked regularly with the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet in Vilnius.

Grand Theatre stagings of Szymanowski’s King Roger under Jacek Kaspszyk were presented within the I, Culture programme to highlight the Polish presidency in the European Union in July 2011. Another special event was Kaspszyk’s series of concerts with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Chopin and His Europe festival.

In 2011, he was awarded the Elgar Society Medal for his outstanding interpretations of the composer’s works.

In 2006–13 he was Artistic Director of the Witold Lutosławski Philharmonic in Wrocław and in 2009–12 was again Music Director of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra.

His recent engagements include a return to the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at the Bregenz Festival in 2012 as well as concerts at the festivals of La Roque d’Anthéron and Lugano (with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana). He regularly conducts orchestras in Asia, including China Philharmonic, Guangzhou Symphony, Shanghai Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, and KBS Symphony in Seoul.

Jacek Kaspszyk’s extensive discography includes his award-winning recording of Rossini’s Il Signor Bruschino with the Polish Chamber Opera, the Edison Prize-awarded recording of Baird’s Concerto lugubre and several critically acclaimed CDs for Collins Classics with all four London orchestras. He regularly cooperated with Martha Argerich, including at the Lugano Festival and on a CD featuring the works of Chopin. His recording of Lutosławski’s Symphonies no. 2 and 4 with the Wrocław Philharmonic received the Polish music industry’s Fryderyk Award in 2011 while his recordings with the Polish National Opera of Moniuszko’s The Haunted Manor for EMI was awarded a Platinum Disc and that of Szymanowski’s King Roger for CD Accord was nominated in 2006 by the BBC Music Magazine as Record of the Year.

On 1 September 2013 Jacek Kaspszyk was appointed Musical and Artistic Director of the Warsaw Philharmonic–The National Orchestra of Poland. He opened his tenure on 1 September 2013, conducting the final concert of the Chopin and His Europe Festival followed on 22 September by an historic Warsaw Autumn Festival concert of Lutosławski’s Piano Concerto and Symphony no. 3 with pianist Krystian Zimerman, the latter also a highlight of the Lutosławski Year. Kaspszyk also conducted the first livestreamed concerts in the history of the Philharmonic. In 2014 was the public’s Man of the Year in the Gazeta Wyborcza daily awards for culture.