Marcin Świątkiewicz

Marcin Świątkiewicz is a Polish historical keyboard player and conductor recognized for his technical mastery and expressive improvisation, as he has regularly directed Baroque ensembles directly from the keyboard. Across his career, he has recorded more than 30 albums. In 2026, he directed Instrumental Theatre of Affects: C.P.E. Bach - Berlin Symphonies, recorded with Arte dei Suonatori. Świątkiewicz attended the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and the Academy of Music in Katowice. He studied both harpsichord and composition and earned his doctorate in June 2014 at the latter institution before joining its faculty as a lecturer. His recording career had begun earlier, in 2008, when Polish Radio Katowice released Musikalisches Vielerley, a program of German Baroque music. He soon established regular partnerships with ensembles including Rachel Podger's Brecon Baroque, Capella Cracoviensis, and Arte dei Suonatori, recording for labels such as BIS, Channel Classics, and DUX. In 2015, his double album of Johann Gottfried Müthel's harpsichord concertos with Arte dei Suonatori won a Diapason d'Or. Later that year came three more recordings, among them a program of Schaffrath and Schreyfogel concertos with the {oh!} Historical Orchestra and Biber's Rosenkranzsonaten with Podger, Jonathan Manson, and David Miller, which received a Gramophone Award. He was also awarded the "Polityka" magazine's Passport Award that year. His 2017 recording Cromatica brought further recognition. His work has not been limited to historical repertoire. He played harpsichord with the Aukso Orchestra for Drach. Dramma per musica, the opera by Aleksander Nowak, for the work's premiere recording. Świątkiewicz has also performed 20th and 21st century harpsichord concertos with symphony orchestras, including Philip Glass's Harpsichord Concerto with the Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. His collaboration with Arte dei Suonatori eventually led to Instrumental Theatre of Affects, a recording project devoted to the symphonies of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. The first volume, focused on the Hamburg symphonies, was released in April 2024 on BIS Records, with the second volume presenting the symphonies Bach composed at the court of Frederick II in Berlin. ~ Prince Iwundu