Biography
Zbigniew Preisner is a Polish film score composer. Born Zbigniew Antoni Kowalski on 20 May 1955 in Bielsko-Biała, he is self-taught in music after studying history and philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.
He is best known for his long collaboration with director Krzysztof Kieślowski, composing the scores for The Double Life of Véronique (1991) and the Three Colours trilogy: Blue (1993), White (1994) and Red (1994). He has also worked with directors including Agnieszka Holland on The Secret Garden (1993) and Jean Becker on Élisa (1995).
Preisner received César Awards for his scores for Three Colours: Red and Élisa, and the Silver Bear at the 1997 Berlin International Film Festival for The Island on Bird Street. In 1998 he premiered Requiem for My Friend, his first major non-film work.
