Andrzej Kosendiak is a conductor and teacher, one of the most active musicians and organisers of musical life in Poland. He is a graduate of the Department of Composition, Conducting and Music Theory at the Academy of Music in Wrocław. In the years 2001–2009, he was head of the Inter-Faculty Study of Early Music there, in 2013 he obtained a postdoctoral degree; in the years 2014–2016, he lectured at the Academy of Music in Gdańsk. In 2021, he received the title of professor. Since 2018, to the present day he has been teaching at his alma mater.
In 2005, he became director of the Wrocław Philharmonic and International Festival Wratislavia Cantans – he led to the change of both institutions and their transformation into the Witold Lutosławski National Forum of Music, which he led until September 2024. After that time, he took over the role of artistic advisor to the NFM director and artistic director of the Andrzej Markowski International Festival Wratislavia Cantans.
The opening of the new venue of the National Forum of Music, which was created thanks to his initiative and efforts, was awarded the Coryphaeus of Polish Music 2016 in the Event of the Year category. Andrzej Kosendiak also contributed to the establishment of the Society of Polish Philharmonics, in which he served as chair of the Board for three terms. In the years 2016-2019, he was vice-chairman of the Council for Artistic Institutions at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, he is a member of the Programme Council for Music of the National Institute of Music and Dance, and since 2021 of the Council of the University of Economics in Wrocław, and the jury of the architectural competition for a new concert hall in Belgrade.
He has established new ensembles, including the NFM Choir, Wrocław Baroque Orchestra, NFM Boys' Choir and NFM Girls' Choir, and also initiated the Leo Festival. In addition, he was one of the co-founders of Music in the City monthly published in the years 2012-2018 by the National Forum of Music. As a conductor, he is particularly interested in early music. In 1985, he founded the Collegio di Musica Sacra ensemble, and in 2013 Wrocław Baroque Ensemble, of which he is artistic director. He has recorded previously unknown works from the University Library in Wrocław and the library in Strasbourg (Wrocław Music Award – Musical Event of the Year 2000 for the album Musica da Chiesa), compositions by Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki (Wrocław Music Prize 2013), Bartłomiej Pękiel and Marcin Mielczewski; most of these recordings were nominated for Fryderyk Awards, and in 2023 a Fryderyk was won by him for album Marcin Józef Żebrowski – Vesperae in Visitatione Beatae Mariae Virginis (Album of the Year – Early Music).
Andrzej Kosendiak regularly conducts philharmonic orchestras in Poland and abroad. He has performed in many European countries, the United States (including collaboration with the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill) and China. He is extremely active in the field of education. In 1990–2000, he was a visitor for the Centre for Artistic Education, and in 2000–2001 he was director of the Department of Programming and Supervision of Artistic Education at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. He initiated educational projects such as Singing Wrocław, Singing Poland, international choir meetings Singing Europe, Mummy, Dady, Song to Me. Thanks to his support, the following were established: the Polish National Youth Choir, Choral Academy, Academy of Early Music (an annual festival combining master classes with concerts), Orchestra Academy (preparing musicians to work in professional ensembles), and the NFM Education Centre. He was the originator of the Musica polonica rediviva programme, which aims to have young artists perform Polish music all over the world with the support of conservatories and festivals (so far, the programme has been implemented in cooperation with the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague, Conservatorio di Musica Luca Marenzio in Brescia and Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón in Zaragoza). Andrzej Kosendiak also initiated the album series 1000 Years of Music in Wrocław and Witold Lutosławski. Opera omnia. Thanks to his efforts, a phonographic project has been carried out, including recordings of great oratorio works. The albums released so far have won the BBC Music Magazine Award twice, Diapason d’Or and the Editor’s Choice of Gramophone magazine. In 2018, an album with Stanisław Moniuszko’s Phantoms was released, conducted by Andrzej Kosendiak – recorded by outstanding singers and actors, the NFM Choir and Wrocław Baroque Orchestra; it received a Fryderyk 2019 (Album of the Year – Choral, Oratorio and Opera Music). The albums A.M. Bononcini: La decollazione di San Giovanni Battista featuring Wrocław Baroque Orchestra and Mikołaj Zieleński: Offertoria et communiones totius anni, Kaspar Förster – Sacrae cantiones featuring Wrocław Baroque Ensemble – recorded under the baton of the NFM director – were nominated in the Baroque Vocal category for the International Classical Music Awards, respectively in 2020, 2021 and 2023. The Mielczewski II CD was awarded a Fryderyk 2019 (Album of the Year – Early Music), and a disc with Zieleński's compositions in 2021 (Album of the Year – Early Music). In 2022, thanks to Andrzej Kosendiak, the first vinyl album of the National Forum of Music was released, recorded under his baton by Wrocław Baroque Ensemble with Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki’s Completorium, i.e. a musical setting of selected parts of Compline – the last service of the Liturgy of the Hours.
Andrzej Kosendiak has received numerous awards and distinctions, including: Tulips of the National Day of Life in the Social Initiative category (2011) for the project Mummy, Daddy, Song to Me, the Mayor of Wrocław Award (2016), the Lower Silesian Key to Success in the Greatest Personality in the Promotion of the Region category (2016), Radio Wrocław Kultura – Emocje awards in the categories of Personality of the Cultural Season (2017) and Classical Music (2018), the Austrian Cross of Honour, First Class for Merit in Science and Arts (2018), the Diamond of Wrocław (2018), the Golden Badge of Honour for Merit to the Lower Silesian Voivodeship (2018), the award of the College of Rectors of the Universities of Wrocław and Opole for his activities for the integration of the academic community (2019), the Golden Badge of Honour of Wrocław “Wrocław with Gratitude – Wratislavia grato animo” (2020), and for his outstanding achievements in popularising culture, his service to artistic education and the development of music he was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2023).