Paweł Gusnar
is a graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw.
He developed his skills at masterclasses given by Christian Wirth (Paris), Ed Bogaard (Brussels), Lawrence Gwozdz (USA) and Johanes Ernst (Berlin).
In 1992 and 1993 respectively, he became laureate of the First International Wind Instruments Competition (which was held in Dabrowa Gornicza), and the Chamber Music Competition (which was held in Wroclaw). He was also a finalist of the Yamaha Foundation Scholarship Competition in Cracow in 2000.
He belongs to a select group of saxophonists who successfully combine classical music with jazz and popular music. He gives several dozen concerts a year in Poland and abroad, as a soloist and in chamber ensembles.
He has performed at many prestigious festivals including the Warsaw Autumn, Sacred and Profane (Kraków), Gaude Mater, Festival of Polish Contemporary Music “Musica Polonica Nova” in Wrocław, “Musica Moderna” in Łódź, Music & Film Festival (Warsaw), the Music Festival of the European Union (Warsaw), the Beethoven Easter Festival (Warsaw), International Chamber Music Festival (Briest), Festival of Stage Art (Warsaw), Music Festival (Marl), HiSeoulFestival (Seoul), La Folle Journée ‘L’Harmonie des Peuples’ (Nantes), Warsaw Summer Jazz Days, Komeda Music Festiwal (Łódź), Baltic Song Festival (Karlshamn), Top Trendy (Sopot), the Sopot Song Festival and the Polish Song Festival (Opole).
He is a member of the Adam Sztaba Orchestra, Kukla Band directed by Zygmunt Kukla, Aleksander Maliszewski’s Alex Band, the Tomasz Szymuś Orchestra.
Paweł Gusnar is the founder and leader of the ‘Akademia’ Saxophone Quartet.
He has taken part in the recording of many programmes for radio and television (TVP, TVN, Polsat).
He has been invited to perform with numerous symphony orchestras including the Warsaw Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra under leading conductors – S. Skrowaczewski, T. Strugała, K. Penderecki, W. Rajski, A. Wit, K. Kord, J. Maksymiuk, W. Michniewski, M. Minkowski, J. Axelrod, A. Duczmal, R. Beck, V. Gergev, R. Rivolta, Y. Pascal Tortielier and Ennio Moricone, Jose Cura, Maria Schneider.
He has also developed a career as a soloist, appearing with the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio, Concerto Avenna, Capella Bydgostiensis, Sinfonietta Cracovia, Sinfonia Baltica, orchestra of the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester), Philharmonic in Czestochowa, Lodz, Zabrze, Opole, Walbrzych, Zielona Góra, Lublin, Rzeszów, Białystok and the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra in works by Glazunov, Debussy, Ibert, Milhaud, Gershwin, Herdzin, Piazzolla and Casken.
He has given first performances of works by many contemporary Polish composers, many of which have been dedicated to him (Miłosz Bembinow, Andrzej Dutkiewicz, Benedykt Konowalski, Pawel Łukaszewski, Piotr Moss, Zbigniew Penherski, Weronika Ratusińska, Elżbieta Sikora, Marian Sawa, Krzysztof Herdzin, Ryszard Borowski and many others).
As a session musician, he has taken part in the recording of film soundtracks, incidental music and CDs for such labels as BMG, ARMSmusic, Pomaton EMI, DUX and Polish Radio.
The “Little Sketch” composed by M. Bembinow for saxophone and organ, and the “Nymphs” by W. Ratusińska for soprano saxophone and harpsichord were recorded and included on two CDs published by DUX. Another premiere recording was R. Stradomski’s ‘Concerto for saxophone quartet and orchestra’, recorded by the saxophonist for the Polish Radio together with the ‘Amadeus’ orchestra conducted by A. Duczmal.
In 2007 Musica Sacra published his first solo CD, entitled ‘New Polish Music for saxophone and organ’ (nomination to the Fryderyk 2008 award).
In 2010, Pawel Gusnar and Tomasz Filipczak (piano) recorded new album „Jazz Sonatas” JB Records, for saxophone and piano.
Hislatest album (2010) Komeda-Inspiration, was recorded for ARMSMusic.
In more recent years, he has been invited to judge a number of highly regarded Saxophone competitions.He is invited also as a lecturer to the international courses of music interpretation.
Paweł Gusnar teaches saxophone at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and at the Lodz Academy of Music.
Pawel Gusnar is artist of Selmer/Paris and Rico D’Addario & Company.