Krzysztof Wołek—Polish composer, pedagogue, improviser, and installation artist—has been named a recipient of the 100th edition of the Guggenheim Fellowship. Currently a professor of composition and director of electronic music studies at the University of Louisville, Wołek is one of 198 distinguished individuals selected in various categories of science and contemporary art for this prestigious fellowship.
At a time when intellectual life is under attack, the Guggenheim Fellowship celebrates a century of support for the lives and work of visionary scientists, scholars, writers, and artists. We believe that these creative thinkers can take on the challenges we all face today and guide our society towards a better and more hopeful future.
Edward Hirsch, award-winning poet and President of the Guggenheim Foundation
On April 15, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced their appointment of the 100th class of Guggenheim Fellows, chosen through a rigorous application and peer review process from a pool of nearly 3,500 applicants. The Class of 2025 Guggenheim Fellows was tapped based on both prior career achievement and exceptional promise. As established in 1925 by founder US Senator Simon Guggenheim, each Fellow receives a monetary stipend to pursue independent work at the highest level under “the freest possible conditions.” Since its establishment, the Guggenheim Foundation has granted over $400 million in Fellowships to more than 19,000 individuals, among whom are more than 125 Nobel laureates, members of all the national academies, winners of the Pulitzer Prize, Fields Medal, Turing Award, Bancroft Prize, National Book Award, and other internationally recognized honors.
In other recent successes for Wołek, on March 15 his Bellows Breath concerto for accordion and string orchestra was premiered by Rafał Łuc – accordion, Aukso Chamber Orchestra and Marek Moś – conductor at the 2025 NOSPR Festival of Premieres in Katowice, Poland. Also, along with the Orkiestra Muzyki Nowej (OMN), he received a commission grant from 2025 Composer’s Commission program, funded by the Ministry of Culture and organized by the National Institute of Music and Dance (NIMiT).
[Sources: facebook.com, krzysztofwolek.com, gf.org. Photo: Brian King. PMC Photo Collection – All rights reserved]