Winner of the first prize at the ARD International Competition in Munich, prizewinner at the Prague Spring International Competition and recipient of the prize awarded under the auspices of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe.
Andrzej Bauer was born in Łódź, where he completed his studies under Kazimierz Michalik’s guidance. He continued his musical education, working with e.g. André Navarra, Miloš Sadlo and Daniel Szafran during numerous masterclasses. He also completed a two-year course in London, under William Pleeth, thanks to a scholarship funded by Witold Lutosławski.
Andrzej Bauer has given recitals in Amsterdam, Paris, Hamburg and Munich, and performed with symphony orchestras, including the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, RAI Naples Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared in concert as a soloist with most Polish symphony and chamber orchestras, with ensembles like the National Philharmonic Orchestra and Sinfonia Varsovia inviting him to join them as a soloist on their European concert tours.
Andrzej Bauer has recorded music for a number radio and television stations in Poland and other countries. He has taken part in international festivals, performing in most European countries as well as the United States and Japan.
The artist’s recording with works by Schubert, Brahms and Schumann (Koch/Schwann) won the quarterly German Record Critics’ Award. His subsequent CDs featured works by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Messiaen, Panufnik as well as Witold Lutosławski’s Cello Concerto. 2000 saw the release of the first ever Polish recording (on two CDs) of all of Bach’s cello suites, recorded by Bauer for the CD Accord label, for which the artist won the 2000 Fryderyk Award of the Polish Academy of Phonography.
The artist’s extensive repertoire features many works of contemporary and new music, including works composed especially for him. At the 2002 Warsaw Autumn Festival Andrzej Bauer gave a recital of premieres of pieces for cello solo and electronic media which he had inspired. The Cellotronicum project launched at this point has been continued by the artist ever since, resulting in new recordings and more premieres presented at major contemporary music venues in Europe. The second edition of the Cellotronicum project at the Warsaw Autumn won the 2006 Orpheus prize.
Andrzej Bauer is professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, where he is in charge of cello classes. In addition, he is the founder and artistic director of the Warsaw Cellonet Group.
He has been devoting more and more time to composing and improvising music.