dr hab. Henryk Jan Botor, prof. AMKP
Henryk Jan Botor was born in Tychy. He took piano lessons, first from private tutor,Ewa Szymiczek-Tuszyńska, than at music schools in Tychy and Bielsko-Biała under the guidance of Barbara Bock,Aleksandra Dębnicka and Maria Świerczek-Niedziela.
He graduated from the Academy of Music in Kraków with the degress in: Musicasl Education (1984), Music Composition under the academic supervision of Professor Marek Stachowski (1989), and Organ under the supervision of Professor Mirosława Semeniuk – Podraza (with Honours, 1989). In 1988 he took lessons on music improvisation from Jan Jongepier in the Netherlands, and at Summer Organ Academy in Haarlem under the guidance of Hans Haselböck and Anders Bondeman.
In 1997 he received First Prize at the “Vox Basilicae Calisiensis” Composing Competition in Kalisz, Poland, for the a cappella composition. In 2002 he was awarded another First Prize at the Composing Competition in Mikołów, Poland, for the concerto for organ, string orchestra, two trumpets and percussion. In 2004 he was granted Third Prize at the International Composing Competitin “The Garden Music” in Kraków. Among his achievements as a composer are symphonic, chamber,piano, organ and choir pieces, as well as songs. They include the liturgical songs performed in Rome during the celebration of the 25-th anniversary of The Pontificate of Pope John Paul II by the Polish Radio Katowice Symphony Orchestra and the Kraków Radio Choir.
He composed the liturgical music, and arranged the songs for the choir and symphony orchestra for the Archepiscopal Ingress of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, and for the Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Poland in 2006 (Holy Mass at Karaków-Błonie). Henryk Jan Botor takes particular interest in symphony orchestra within which he tries to reach the still unexplored potential of tone colour by employing conventional instruments. He is also interested in film score music. His background compositons were used in documentary films by Jerzy Ridan, “Imię moje Kinga” (“My name is Kinga”), “Pielgrzymi” (“Pilgrims”) and “Moje miasto” (“My city”).
In 2010 he composed the the music for the documentary film about God’s Servant, Jerzy Ciesielski, directed by Izabela Drobotowicz – Orkisz. He teaches at the Academy of Music in Cracow.
The composer has given concerts in Poland, the Netherlands, Germany and Mexico, featuring also his own compositions and improvisations. His recitals have included the concerts consisting of his sole improvisations for the suggested themes. His compositions and improvisations have already been recorded on CD.