Antoni Wit studied conducting with Henryk Czyż, and composition with Krzysztof Penderecki at the State Higher Music School in Cracow. He continued his studies with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. After finishing his musical studies he became Witold Rowicki's assistant at the Warsaw Philharmonic. He subsequently worked with the Poznań Philharmonic and served as Artistic Director of the Pomeranian Philharmonic (1974-77) and of the Polish Radio and Television Orchestra and Choir in Kraków (1977-83). He was also associated with the Grand Opera of Warsaw. From 1983 to 2000 he was Managing and Artistic Director of the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice. It was the longest stint in that position in the orchestra's history. In the 2000/01 season he continued to work with the Katowice orchestra as its Principal Conductor. In 1987-92 he was also Artistic Director and then Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria. In January 2002 he took over as Managing and Artistic Director of the Warsaw Philharmonic - the National Orchestra of Poland.
Antoni Wit won Second Prize at the Herbert von Karajan International Conducting Competition in West Berlin in 1971. His honours also include the Orpheus' Critics' Award for the best performance of a Polish composition during the Warsaw Autumn' Festival (1984 and 1996) and the Diamond Baton' Polish Radio Award (1998).
Antoni Wit has performed in the most important European music centres and also in the United States, the Middle and Far East. He has conducted such orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, the bbc Symphony, the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, the London Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, the Bergen Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de Belgique, and the radio orchestras of Hilversum and Leipzig.
His discography includes over 90 records on labels such as Polskie Nagrania, emi-hmv, cbs, Camerata Tokyo, nvc Arts, Pony Canyon, and Naxos. Szymanowski's Stabat Mater for emi won an award from British critics in 1985. The recording of Prokofiev's piano concertos released by Naxos was awarded the Diapason d'Or and Grand Prix du Disque in 1993.
He recently completed the recording of all of Lutosławski's orchestral works with the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. In January 2002 he received the prestigious Cannes Classical Award for the Naxos recording of Messiaen's Turangalila-Symphonie (Midem Classique 2002).
He is a professor at the Music Academy in Warsaw.