Szymon Bywalec studied conducting with Jan Wincenty Hawel at the Music Academy in Katowice where he currently works as an assistant. He also studied oboe with Jerzy Kotyczka at the Academy of Music in Cracow. He continued his education taking part in the conducting courses as with Gianluigi Gelmetti and Lothar Zagrosek at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, which gave him a grant. He won First Prize at the 2nd National Young Conductors' Competition in Białystok (1996) as well as two special prizes (one from Antoni Wit) at the 6th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Conductors' Competition in Katowice. He also received a grant from the Polish Ministry of Culture twice as well as awards from the President of the City of Katowice.
In 2000 he founded the Chamber Orchestra 'Ars Musicae' which specializes in the early music repertoire, as well as the vocal ensemble 'Cappella Theoreticorum Cantans'. Currently he is also chief of the Karol Szymanowski Youth Symphony Orchestra in Katowice. As a guest conductor he has worked with many orchestras in Poland and abroad.
Szymon Bywalec is an associate conductor of the New Music Orchestra. They have performed at many festivals of new music including the 'Warsaw Autumn' (1999, 2000) and made several recordings for Polish Radio. At the Silesian Theatre in Katowice he presented the first Polish performance of The Soldier's Tale by Stravinsky (translated by Jonasz Kofta).