Jan A. P. Kaczmarek

Jan Andrzej Paweł Kaczmarek (; 29 April 1953 – 21 May 2024) was a Polish composer. He wrote scores for more than 70 feature films and documentaries, including Finding Neverland, for which he won an Oscar and a National Board of Review Award. Other notable scores were for Hachi: A Dog's Tale, Unfaithful, Evening, The Visitor, and Washington Square.

Early life and education Jan A.P. Kaczmarek was born in 1953 in Konin, Poland. Studying music from an early age, he graduated with a law degree, specializing in legal theory and philosophy of law, from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (1977).

Career In the late 1970s, Kaczmarek started working with Jerzy Grotowski and his innovative Theater Laboratory. He created the Orchestra of the Eighth Day in 1977. He recorded his first album, Music for the End (1982), for the United States (US) company Flying Fish Records.

In addition to his work in films, Kaczmarek was commissioned to write two symphonic and choral pieces for two important national occasions in Poland: Cantata for Freedom (2005) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Solidarity movement, and Oratorio 1956 (2006) to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a bloody uprising against totalitarian government in Poznań, Poland. Both premieres were broadcast live on Polish national television. Other concert works of the composer include Jankiel's Concert, The Open Window and Fanfare A2. On 10 May 2014, the world premiere of Universa – Open Opera, an opera written for the 650th anniversary of the Jagiellonian University, was held in Kraków's Main Square. Jan's last monumental work, Emigra – The Neverending Symphony, was performed in February 2017 in Gdynia, Poland.

Kaczmarek was a member of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, European Film Academy and Polish Film Academy.

On 1 July 2015, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

Kaczmarek was the founder and director of the Transatlantyk Festival, held yearly in Łódź, Poland.

In 2023, he received the Lifetime Achievement Polish Film Award for his contribution to Polish cinema.

Illness and death In 2023, Jan's daughter stated that Kaczmarek was suffering from multiple system atrophy, for which there is no cure. He died in Kraków on 21 May 2024, at the age of 71.

Works Film Year Title 1993 White Marriage Doppelgänger 1994 Gospel According to Harry Dead Girl 1995 Total Eclipse 1996 Bliss 1997 Washington Square 1999 Aimée & Jaguar The Third Miracle 2000 Lost Souls 2001 Quo Vadis Edges of the Lord 2002 Unfaithful 2004 Finding Neverland 2006 Who Never Lived 2007 The Visitor Hania Evening 2008 The Karamazovs Passchendaele 2009 Horsemen City Island Get Low Hachiko: A Dog's Story 2010 Leonie 2012 The Time Being 2013 Tajemnica Westerplatte 2013 Joanna 2014 Inbetween Worlds 2014 Dancing Before the Enemy: How a Teenage Boy Fooled the Nazis and Lived 2016 La Habitación (Tales of Mexico) 2018 Paul, Apostle of Christ 2019 Valley of the Gods 2019 Underage Engineers 2020 Magnezja

Television Year Title 1993 Night Owl Empty Cradle 2001 Shot in the Heart 2002 A Soldier's Girl 2006 A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story 2007 War and Peace 2008 Pinocchio 2009 The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler

Awards and nominations Year Awards Category Film Result 2004 National Board of Review Awards Outstanding Film Music Composition Finding Neverland 2005 Academy Awards Best Original Score British Academy Film Awards Best Original Music Golden Globe Awards Best Original Score 2009 Czech Lion Awards Best Music The Karamazovs