Maksymiuk was born in
Grodno,
Second Polish Republic (now Belarus). He studied violin, piano, conducting and composition at the
Warsaw Conservatory where his teachers included
Piotr Perkowski (composition), Jerzy Lefeld (piano) and Bogusław Madey (conducting). In 1964 he won first prize in the
Paderewski Piano Competition; in 1973 he won an award of the Polish prime minister for his work with youth. From 1983 to 1993, Maksymiuk was Chief Conductor of the
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO), with which he appeared each season at the
Henry Wood Promenade Concerts in
London. Together, they made many overseas tours, and he became the BBC SSO's Conductor Laureate. In Britain, Maksymiuk has also conducted the
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra,
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the
BBC Philharmonic, the
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the
London Symphony Orchestra,
London Philharmonic Orchestra and
The Philharmonia. In addition he has conducted many other orchestras in Europe, the US and Japan, Australia and Israel. Among premieres given by Maksymiuk are A Mind of Winter by George Benjamin in 1981, Still Movement by Harrison Birtwhistle in 1984, The Confession of Isobel Gowdie by James MacMillan in 1990, as well as works by
Krzysztof Meyer, Paul Patterson and
Kazimierz Sikorski. In April 1990 he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters by
Strathclyde University. In 1999 he received the
Elgar Medal conferred by the
Elgar Society. His recordings include the first uncut performance made in the West of
Paderewski's massive
Symphony in B minor "Polonia", which he has also performed in concert in Poland. ==In film==