Kruszewski is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Warsaw (1985), where he studied in the class of Edmund Kossowski. He is
a prize-winner of the International Vocal Competition in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands, 1987), the Jan Kiepura Competition in Krynica (Poland, 1988 – Grand Prix) and international vocal competitions in Rio de Janeiro (1989) and Nantes (1989). After his graduation, he joined the Warsaw Chamber Opera, where he sang the leading baritone parts in operas by Donizetti, Mozart and Rossini, performing on many stages across Europe with this ensemble.
In the 1990/91 season he was a soloist with the Wiener Kammeroper, singing the part of Malatesta in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Almaviva in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, and going on tour in Japan, South Korea and China. He has been working with the Grand Theatre – National Opera in Warsaw since 1993, singing the parts of Figaro in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Adam in Penderecki’s Paradise Lost, the title role in Verdi’s Macbeth and Anckarström in Un ballo in maschera, Albert in Massenet’s Werther, Sharpless in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, the title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Méphistophélés in Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust.
He has taken part in a gala concert at the Opéra Bastille in Paris, performed with the bbc Scottish Orchestra in Glasgow and given concerts at the State Theatre in Pretoria (South Africa). He has worked with the National Opera in Prague and taken part in music festivals in Poland and abroad. In 1992, he performed with Placido Domingo in Zabrze (Poland) in fragments from Verdi’s Don Carlos and Puccini’s La Boh?me. He has recorded for Polish and foreign record companies.
In 2001, he was extremely successful as Sword-bearer in a Grand Theatre – National Opera production of Moniuszko’s Haunted Manor directed by Mikołaj Grabowski.
In June 2002, he appeared in Karol Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater, performed by the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Saarbrücken under Stanisław Skrowaczewski. He sang in Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater again in July 2002, in a performance at Teatro La Fenice in Venice conducted by Jerzy Semkow. During a Japanese tour in January 2003, he appeared together with José Cura in Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello, singing the part of Iago, which brought him the Andrzej Hiolski Memorial Award for the best male role of the 2000/01 season.
warsaw philharmonic choir began its activity in 1953 under Zbigniew Soja. Its successive directors were Roman Kuklewicz (1955–71), Józef Bok (1971–74), and Antoni Szaliński (1974–78). Since 1978 the Choir’s Artistic Director has been Henryk Wojnarowski.
In addition to regular performances in the subscription series of symphonic and choral-orchestral concerts of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra as well as a cappella performances in the Warsaw Philhar-monic Hall, the Choir performs regularly at the Warsaw Autumn and the Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Wrocław.
Foreign tours have taken the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir to Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey. It has
performed with such renowned orchestras as the Munich Philharmonic, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the rias Orchestra, the Bamberger Symphoniker, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Symphony Orchestras, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome, the Brussels Opera Orchestra, the Palermo Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of Milan’s La Scala.
Highlights in the Choir’s history have included the invitation to take part in the La Scala production of Donatoni’s Atem in 1985. Following this operatic debut, the Warsaw Choir was invited to La Scala again to sing in Weber’s Oberon (1989) and Beethoven’s Fidelio (1990). It also sang in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress (1986) and Mozart’s The Magic Flute (1987) at La Fenice in Venice; in Beethoven’s Fidelio in Paris (1989), Szymanowski’s King Roger (1992), Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex (1993) and Honegger’s Antigone (1993) in Palermo and Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri in Pesaro. In 1988, 1990 and 2001 the Choir took part in gala concerts for Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.
The Warsaw Philharmonic Choir has appeared with leading Polish and foreign conductors including Gary Bertini,
Sergiu Comissiona, Henryk Czyż, Jacek Kaspszyk, Kazimierz Kord, Jan Krenz, Lorin Maazel,
Jerzy Maksymiuk, Zubin Mehta, Grzegorz Nowak, Seiji Ozawa, Krzysztof Penderecki, Witold Rowicki, Jerzy Semkow, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Leopold Stokowski, Igor Stravinsky, Stanisław Wisłocki, Antoni Wit, and Bohdan Wodiczko.
The repertoire of the Choir includes over 150 oratorios and a cappella works from the Middle Ages to contemporary music, with special attention given to Polish music, notably the works of Krzysztof Penderecki. The Choir has performed all of his oratorios and a cappella works. The latter performances were released on records, as were the St Luke Passion (twice), the Polish Requiem, Seven Gates of Jerusalem and Credo. A recording of the St Luke Passion under Penderecki himself received a Grammy nomination in 1991. The Choir’s discography also includes Handel’s Messiah, Israel in Egypt and Judas Maccabaeus, Verdi’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Fidelio and Symphony No. 9, Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, Bruckner’s Te Deum, Elsner’s Passion, Szymanowski’s Harnasie and Symphony No. 3, Roman Maciejewski’s Requiem and Wojciech Kilar’s Missa pro pace.
In November 2003, the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir celebrated its 50th anniversary.