Krzysztof Penderecki

Krzysztof Penderecki was a Polish composer and conductor whose work helped define postwar avant-garde music. His influential compositions include *Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima*, *St. Luke Passion*, and *Polish Requiem*, while his later music developed a more expansive, post-Romantic character. He also conducted widely and held major academic and artistic leadership positions in Kraków and internationally.