SYREWICZ, Stanisław (*1946)

Composer. Syrewicz was born on 22^nd August 1946 in Azov, Russia. After receiving his diploma from the Academy of Music in Warszawa [Warsaw], he spent the next four years at the Department of Directing of the State Theatre Academy in Warsaw, directing in this time at the Musical Theatre in Gdynia his musical Stan wyjątkowy [State of Emergency] and his opera Narciso at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw. In the second half of the 1970s, he wrote music for more than thirty theatre productions and numerous television programmes. His songs from that period were performed by leading Polish actors, and Jerzy Stuhr’s interpretation of Śpiewać każdy może [Everyone Can Sing] remains a classic to this day. In 1982, the owner of Island Records, Chris Blackwell, signed a contract with Syrewicz - thanks to which, the composer wrote songs for Marianne Faithfull, Diane Keaton, José Carreras, Yves Montand and Jon Anderson of the group Yes. In 1994, the song To nie ja [It wasn’t me] became a hit after Edyta Górniak took second place with it at the Eurovision Song Contest. However, it is film music which takes, to this day, the most important place in Stanisław Syrewicz’s creative output. He has written music for more than one hundred films. Although he spends a great deal of time abroad, he regularly returns to Poland and to his flat in the Old Town in Warsaw. He has been working with EUTERPE Publishing House since 2005.