Employees

prof. dr hab.

Józef Kotowicz

organ

In 1994, he won the International Organ Competition Szczecin – Kamień Pomorski.
He conducts multi-faceted activities as a teacher, organist, moderator of artistic life and promoter of organ music in the north-eastern region of Poland. He was invited three times as a soloist and lecturer to organ conferences organized by the University of Michigan/USA (2003, 2007, 2010). He gave two master classes with a lecture and a recital at the Catholic University of Ruzomberok/Slovakia. He also gave lectures at Polish art universities. In 2017, he was the chairman and 2018 member of the jury of the International Organ Competition at the same university. His publications appeared in the Danish organ monthly "Organistbladet" (2004/VIII, IX), as well as in the materials from the conference "Interpretacne kurzy 2010-2011" issued in 2012 by the Catholic University of Ruzomberok/Slovakia. Józef Kotowicz is the creator of a series of radio broadcasts "Organs of north-eastern Poland" produced by Polskie Radio Białystok, recording the most valuable instruments of this region. He is a concert musician, but he also records his performances on CDs. He has recorded five CDs recorded in the Białystok Cathedral Basilica and the Old Parish, as well as in the Church of St. Kazimierz and the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church in Białystok. He performed many concerts inaugurating the organ in Białystok, including: in the church of St. Jadwiga, Saint. Casimir, St. Padre Pio, Our Lady of Fatima, Blessed Bolesława's Lament, All Saints Church, Drohiczyn Cathedral, St. Anna in Białystok, the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit in Otwock and the church organ in Asker in Sweden. Thanks to his efforts, a valuable mechanical instrument was imported from Denmark to the Music School Complex in Białystok. It was the first Western instrument in Białystok. Thanks to his efforts, the organ was brought to the church of St. Padre Pio in Białystok, the cathedral in Drohiczyn and the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit in Otwock. He permanently cooperates with the Academic Choir of the University of Białystok.
He is a member of the archdiocesan church music commission, supervising, among others, construction and renovation of organs. He was the organist during the beatification mass of Fr. Michał Sopoćko in 2008. In 2001, he received a scholarship from the Marshal of the Podlaskie Voivodeship in the field of art. He regularly gives solo concerts in Scandinavian countries: Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and many times in Germany, Slovakia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus and Russia. He went on concert tours to the USA six times. The most prestigious places where Józef Kotowicz gave concerts include the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona, the cathedral in Copenhagen (Denmark), the cathedral in Turku (Finland), the cathedral in Bratislava (Slovakia), the cathedral of St. Bavon in Haarlem (Netherlands), Lensing Cathedral (USA), Lund Cathedral (Sweden), Strängnäs Cathedral (Sweden), Holmens Kirke in Copenhagen, Quirinus-Münster in Neuss (Germany), Galway Cathedral (Ireland), Hedvig Eleonora Church in Stockholm, Church of St. Peter and Paul in Detroit (USA), church of St. Mark in Arhus (Denmark), Vor Frue Church in Aalborg (Denmark), Vasakyrkan Church in Gothenburg (Sweden). Since 1996, he has been the artistic director of the Cathedral Organ Concerts in Białystok and the Podlasie Organ Concerts. He is a lecturer at the Music School Complex in Białystok and a professor at the F. Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Faculty of Instrumental and Pedagogical Studies in Białystok. In the years 1995-2011 he was the organist of the church of St. Wojciech in Białystok.