Award-winning composer and conductor Krzysztof Penderecki, one of the world’s most distinguished musicians, recieves an honorary doctoral degree conferred by Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie.
Among Penderecki’s many accolades are four Grammy Awards, the 1992 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, the 1993 Prize of the International Music Council/UNESCO and the 2000 Cannes Award as "Living Composer of the Year." He became a member of the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin in 1995 and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in Munich in 1998. He became a member of Poland’s Order of the White Eagle in 2005 and was made Commander of the Three Star Order in Riga, Latvia, in 2006.
Penderecki has been awarded honorary doctorates and professorships at numerous universities, including those of Rochester, Bordeau, Leuven, Belgrade, Madrid, Poznań, Luzern, Leipzig, St. Petersburg, Yale, Seoul, and at St. Olaf College, Georgetown University and Duquesne University, among others.
Penderecki’s "St. Luke Passion" is hailed as one of the most important sacred works of the 20th century. It was composed and premiered during a politically and aesthetically momentous era.