Agnieszka Duczmal Steps Down from the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra After 56 Years

Duczmal's daughter, Anna Duczmal-Mróz, will take over the direction of the orchestra

The Polish conductor Agnieszka Duczmal will step down from her role as the conductor of Polish Radio's Amadeus Chamber Orchestra — the ensemble that she founded 56 years ago — and has conducted ever since.

Duczmal marked her departure with a special concert, "In the Rhythm of Change," held in Poznań's University Hall. The program included the Variations sur un thème de Mozart by the Polish composer Piotr Moss, Piazzolla’s Cuatro Estationes Portenas, and Elgar’s Enigma Variations.

At the close of the concert, Duczmal passed the baton to her daughter Anna Duczmal-Mróz, who will take over her position.

A graduate of Poznań's state university, Duczmal studied with Witold Krzemiński. She began her career as an assistant conductor at the Poznań State Philharmonic and the Poznań Opera.

She founded the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra in 1968, while still a student. In 1976, the ensemble won the Herbert von Karajan Silver Medal at the International Meeting of Young Orchestras in West Berlin, and in 1977, the group was amalgamated into Polish Radio and Television — thus becoming fully professional.

Duczmal herself received an honorable mention at the Herbert von Karajan International Conducting Contest in Berlin (1975), the Herbert von Karajan silver medal at the International Meeting of Young Orchestras in West Berlin (1976), and the title of “La donna del mondo” in 1982 (“the woman of the world”), granted by UNESCO in recognition of outstanding cultural achievements.

She was also the first woman to conduct at Milan's La Scala.

"Agnieszka is a treasure and so is the Amadeus Orchestra, and I hope that under the direction of Anna Duczmal-Mróz it will also grow, as it has so far," said Radio Poznań journalist Ewa Mikołajewska. "Agnieszka's achievement of such an orchestral sound over 56 years is her great asset and feat."

"For many of us, the whole story is our contact with music and this is a thank you for teaching us music and sensitivity," said Poznań City Council chairman Grzegorz Ganowicz. "Thanks to her we experienced many beautiful moments, but this is not the end either — a certain stage ends and another one begins."