Born in 1925 in Warsaw, he is considered one of the key figures of the Polish avantgarde of the 1950s and 60s. As professor of composition and director of the Electronic Music Studio at the Music Academy in Warsaw for several decades (he retired in 1995), he taught many prominent composers. He also lectured as visiting professor in Stockholm (1971), Buffalo (1978), Los Angeles (1982), Jerusalem (1990) and Seoul (1994-95). He made his name as the author of the first electronic pieces in Poland - Study for One Cymbal Stroke (1959). He has collaborated with electronic music studios in Paris, Bourges, Stockholm, Friburg and Buffalo.
His writings include: Muzyka elektroniczna (Electronic Music, 1989 and 2002), Instrumenty perkusyjne we współczesnej orkiestrze (Percussion Instruments in the Contemporary Orchestra; translated into German, Hungarian and Ukrainian), and Leksykon współczesnej perkusji (A Lexicon of the Modern Percussion, 1999).
In 1974-75 he was Head of Music of Polish Radio. In 1983-89 he served as President of the Polish Section of iscm. He was a co-founder of the Summer Courses for Young Composers in Kazimierz Dolny.
His honours include the Prize of the Polish Composers' Union (1976), the Award of the Minister of Culture and Art, First Degree (1989 and 2000) and the Prix Magisterium in Bourges (1998).

Selected works (since 1980): Autumn Song for harpsichord and tape (1981), Terra incognita for tape (1984), Lyric Scenes for nine instruments (1986), Tlaloc for harpsichord and percussion (1987), Birds for clarinet, cello and piano (1987), Bucolica for solo flute (1989), La gioia for string orchestra (1991), Winter Journey for chamber ensemble and tape (1995), Symphony No. 1 (1995), Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1996), Sextet for Wind Quintet and Piano (1998), Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) for amplified harpsichord and electronic layer (1988), Variable Structures for clarinet, trombone, piano and cello (2000), Symphony No. 2 (2001), String Quartet No. 1 (2002), Wilanów Landscapes for string quartet and flute (2002); electronic pieces: Study for One Cymbal Stroke (1959), Microstructures (1963), alea (1970), Euridice (1970), Les Ailes (Wings, 1973), An Obliterated Trace (1982), Antiphonae (1989), Tierra caliente (1992).
Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) for amplified harpsichord and tape was composed to a commission from the Japanese harpsichordist Michiyo Honma, for her recital in Tokyo in February 1998. It is a virtuoso piece, which demonstrates various aspects of contemporary harpsichord technique. The electronic part (recorded on cd instead of tape) is of secondary importance, and constitutes merely a background for the soloist.
The title is the result of my fascination with the aurora, the extraordinary atmospheric phenomenon which I had a chance to encounter for the first time in my life in northern Sweden.
Włodzimierz Kotoński