During
World War II, Krenz studied piano with
Zbigniew Drzewiecki and composition with
Kazimierz Sikorski. From 1945 to 1947, he studied at the
Academy of Music in Łódź, conducting with
Kazimierz Wiłkomirski and composing with Sikorski. In 1949, Krenz began serving under
Grzegorz Fitelberg as deputy conductor at the
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. After Fitelberg's death, Krenz became director of the orchestra from 1953 to 1968. In 1968, he became artistic director of the
Grand Theatre in
Warsaw, and was General Director of Music in
Bonn from 1979 to 1982. At the same time, he directed the
Danish National Symphony Orchestra in
Copenhagen. He was a guest conductor at the
Radio Filharmonisch Orkest in
Hilversum. He also often performed with the
Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in
Tokyo. Other orchestras he led include the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the
Berlin Philharmonic, the
Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra,
Czech Philharmonic and the
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. On 26 March 1958, Krenz was the first person to conduct
Musique funèbre by
Witold Lutosławski. In addition to conducting many orchestras, he has also written a number of compositions. Jan Krenz died on 15 September 2020 at the age of 94. ==Works==