Οrganist Michal Markuszewski was born in Warsaw in 1980. In 2004, he graduated from the Frederic Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw with Honors in Organ Studies (class of Prof. Joachim Grubich). In 2005, he graduated from the same institution with Honors in Piano Studies (class of Prof. Kazimierz Gierżod). In 2007, he completed his postgraduate studies at the Universität der Künste, Berlin, in Organ Improvisation (class of Prof. Wolfgang Seifen). In 2008, he completed further postgraduate work in the Organ Masterclass under Prof. Christoph Bossert at the Hochschule für Musik, Würzburg. His greatest achievements are: 2nd prize at the Polish Contemporary XX Century Organ Music Competition in Legnica (1998); and 1st prize at the International Organ Music Competition in Rumia (2000), along with an Honorable Citation for best performance of pieces by J.S. Bach. He has also won the prize founded by the president of the city of Gda sk and the 3rd prize at the International Organ Music Competition in Zürich-Wiedikon (2007). In 2007, he received a scholarship from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. During the past ten years he has given over 500 concerts at international festivals in Poland, Lithuania, Belgium, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Switzerland, Hungary, Norway, Ukraine, Russia, and Great Britain (St.Paul’s Cathedral, London); and over 250 recitals in Germany (Gedächtnis-Kirche Berlin, Berliner Konzerthaus, Bremer Dom, Stadthalle Wuppertal, Altenberger Dom, Marienbasilika Kevelaer, Bottrop-OrgelPLUS, Audimax Bochum, Maria Laach, Stiftskirche Tübingen, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Basilika Weingarten, Ulmer Münster, Abtei Marienstatt) and in the USA (St. Thomas Church, New York). He has made several CD recordings (Organum Classics, Label Harp, DUX, Ars Sonora).
Those were performed on the historical organs located in the Reformed Church in Warsaw (DUX 0707) and in Silesia and were nominated for the Polish music industry’s FRYDERYK Award in two categories. He has also made several radio and TV-recordings. He is proactive in resolving the problems involved in the restoration of historical Polish organs.He is a member of the Association for Studies and Conservation of Silesian Organs (VEESO); and of the German Society of Organ Enthusiasts GdO (since 2001). He frequently collaborates with the editors of the Polish Online Organ Inventory. He is now compiling documentation on over 350 Polish historical organs. On his own initiative, restoration work was carried out on the historical organ built by Schlag und Söhne and located at the Reformed Church in Warsaw (2004-2008), where he has served as the church’s Principal Organist since 2004. For a number of years, he has been engaging in the planning and management of cultural events. He is the initiator and artistic director of an international cycle of organ concerts on the historical organ built by Schlag und Söhne in 1900 and housed in the Reformed Church in Warsaw. Since 2012, he has been teaching Organ, Organ Improvisation, and Liturgical Interpretation at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, Warsaw.