Stories told in a portrait – Grzegorz Turnau
On April 27, 2017, as part of the photo series “Stories told in a portrait,” we realized in Krakow a portrait session of a Polish artist, arranger, pianist, composer, vocalist and poet, poet Grzegorz Turnau.
The session accompanied the meeting of Piotr Skrzynecki’s memoirs on the 20th anniversary of his death. During the meeting at his monument in front of the entrance to the Vis-à-Vis cafe on the Main Square (funded by Zbigniew Preisner), Friends from “Piwnica pod Baranami” performed the song “Lilies of the valley, lilacs or pet” written just after his departure (Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz – music, vocal; Jan Nowicki – words, vocal; Grzegorz Turnau – vocal; Elżbieta Towarnicka – soprano).
The session took place near Vis-à-Vis in a mobile photo studio at Cafe Europejska Restaurant in Krakow.
Organization of the session: Monika Muracka.
We especially thank the manager Elżbieta Towarnicka Wiktor Czajkowski for the support in taking photos.
Biography
Grzegorz Turnau – composer, singer and pianist, songwriter, arranger. He was born on July 31, 1967 in Krakow. He studied piano at the State General Primary Music School of Ignacy Paderewski in Krakow, is a graduate of the Krakow V Fifth High School August Witkowski. He studied English philology at the Jagiellonian University. In 1984, as a high school student, he received the 1st Prize at the 20th Student Song Festival, soon afterwards he went to Piwnica pod Baranami, with which he was associated for 13 years.
In 1991, his debut album “Nothing really happens” was released. Since then, he has released 16 solo albums and participated in several dozen other phonographic projects.
He performs regularly and intensively. Currently on stage, he is usually accompanied by a band of several people (including Jacek Królik-guitar, Leszek Szczerba-saxophone, Mariusz Pędziałek – oboe, Cezary Konrad – drums, Robert Kubiszyn / Łukasz Adamczyk – bass, Michał Jurkiewicz – viola, keyboards), and also chamber string ensembles. He collaborates with many outstanding artists (including Anna Maria Jopek, Dorota Miśkiewicz, Aga Zaryan, Sebastian Karpiel-Bułecka, Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz, Andrzej Sikorowski, and Stanisław Soyka).
He composes music for film and theater (including collaborating with the director Jarosław Kilian for many years), he is also the author of major musical forms and (from 2016) the music director of the Lalka Theater in Warsaw.
Although he was born and lives in Krakow, he has been associated since childhood with the city of Inowrocław, whose honorary citizenship he received in 2013, as well as the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, where he is – founded by Grzegorz together with Zbigniew and Jacek Turnau and Tomasz Kasicki – Winnica Turnau.
He has won many awards, including 9 Fryderyk, 2 Wiktor, Grand Prix at the Opole Festival. He received the Gloria Artis medal and the Golden Cross of Merit. In 2016, he was awarded the City of Krakow Award in the field of culture and art.
Privately – husband of flutist Maryna Barfuss and father of Antonina Kondrat.
You can follow more information about the Artist, news about concerts with his participation and publications on: grzegorzturnau.pl and on the official Facebook fanpage: HERE.
By sending a link to the official music video of the song “Lilies of the valley, lilac or pet” (CLICK),, I invite you to view portraits of other Artists taken that day in Krakow: