Biography

Jan Kaczmarek is a Polish composer who has lived and worked in the United States since 1989. He has written the scores for more than 50 feature films and documentaries, including Finding Neverland (2005), for which score he won an Academy Award and National Board of Review award. Other notable scores were for Unfaithful, Evening, The Visitor (2008), and Washington Square.

Jan A.P. Kaczmarek was born in 1953 in Konin, Poland. Studying music from an early age, he graduated in law studies from Adam Mickiewicz University in Pozna?. In the late 1970s, Kaczmarek started working with Jerzy Grotowski and his innovative Theater Laboratory. He created the Orchestra of the Eighth Day in 1977. He recorded his first album, Music for the End (1982), for the United States (US) company Flying Fish Records. His music has been released by Sony Classical, Decca, Varèse Sarabande, Verve, Epic, Milan, and Savitor Records. He gives concerts in the United States and Europe.

Most Notable Awards

4 Award Wins, 5 Nominations

Oscar	1 Win
Golden Globe	1 Nomination

In 2005, Kaczmarek received the Academy Award for Best Original Score for Finding Neverland, directed by Marc Forster, on which he worked with music editor Christopher Kennedy, among others. Kaczmarek also won the National Board of Review award for Best Score of the Year and was nominated for a Golden Globe and the BAFTA's Anthony Asquith Award for Achievement in Film Music. In addition to his work in films, Kaczmarek was commissioned to write two symphonic and choral pieces for two important national occasions in Poland: Cantata for Freedom (2005) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Solidarity movement, and Oratorio 1956 (2006) to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a bloody uprising against totalitarian government in Pozna?, Poland. Both premieres were broadcast live on Polish national television.