organist, musicologist and music journalist, born. June 17, 1979, Poznan, Poland. He grew up in Puszczykowo near Poznan, and from 1983 living in Berlin. His musical education began in 1992, privately, continuing with Heinz Lohmann. In 1999-2000 he studied musicology, archeology and philosophy at Freie Universität in Berlin. From 2000 to 2006 he studied church music and organ at Hochschule für Kirchenmusik in Halle/Saale (organ and improvisation with Volker Bräutigam and Klaus Eichhorn). His diploma in Church Music he acquired in 2004, graduated as a concert organist in 2006. In addition, he studied musicology at Martin-Luther-Universität in Halle. In 2005, he got his qualification certrificate as an expert for church bells. Currently Runowski is working on a PhD (trial: The Life and Work of Augustus Freyer and the Development of Polish Organ Tradition in the Nineteenth Century). He has participated in masterclasses with Krzysztof Ostrowski, Torsten Laux, Ewald Kooiman and Edoardo Belotti. In the academic year 2006/2007, he got a research grant grom the german foundation DAAD, and one year later he was a fellow of the German Historical Institute (DHI) in Warsaw. Currently, he has a Kant stipend from the german government.
Since 1997, he is playing recitals as an organist in Germany and other European countries. He also hosted a number of Polish organ festivals, among others: “Muzyka w Starym Klasztorze” (Łódź-Łagiewniki), „Organy Śródmieścia” (Warszawa), „Pasymskie Koncerty Muzyki Organowej i Kameralnej”. He has in his repertoire works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Dietrich Buxtehude, Samuel Scheidt, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, pieces from Polish and German organ tablatures of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, Felix Mendelssohn, August Freyer, Max Reger, Mieczyslaw Surzyński, Feliks Nowowiejski, Siegfried Reda, Manfred Kluge, Jan Janca (including a premiere), Marian Sawa and others. The specific scope of his interests is Polish and German organ music of the 19th and 20th century.
He is also working as a reviewer, author of scientific articles and booklet texts as well as organ music editor. His range of scientific interests is the history of Polish organ music of the 19th and 20th century, Polish-German musical and cultural ties between the 18th and 20th century , the history of Lutheran Church Music in the Polish Kingdom during the 19th century, music and cultural politics of the Third Reich, especially in the occupied countries, the fate of Polish music collections and cultural memorabilia during World War II, the music in the voltage between sacrum and profanum in the states of the Warsaw Pact (especially in communist Poland and the GDR).
In 2003-2005 Michael F. Runowski cooperated with the Polish Embassy in Berlin in the field of counseling and creating of the musical part of several celebrations, including lectures, and a gala concert celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Polish-German organist and composer August Freyer in March 2003 in Auenkirche Berlin Wilmersdorf, the musical setting for the inauguration of the exposition Warsaw, the Capital of Liberty in October 2004 in Berlin and a solo recital at the Cathedral of Berlin (Berliner Dom) in September 2005. In 2005 he rendered manuscripts of famous Polish (eg Emil Mlynarski, Tadeusz Sygietynski) and a Turkish (Ahmed Adnan Sayguna) composers from the pre-war Polish Radio Archives, which he found in Berlin, as a gift, in a ceremonial act at the headquarter of Polish Radio in Warsaw.
In 2008 and 2009 he worked in a project as organist in Norway, where in April 2009, he actively participated in the inauguration of the new organ in Steinkjer (Central Norway). He was the organizator and initiator of the first F. Nowowiejski- Festival in Berlin in October 2009 and thanks to his initiative, Nowowiejski as first Pole got an official commemoration plaque (Berliner Gedenktafel) in the Dominican Church in Berlin. In summer of 2010, he was leading curator of an exhibition of Contemporary Polish Painting WarschauerKunstKraftwerke in Kulturhaus Schöneberg in Berlin.
January 2011
books
Das Licht des Himmels und der Brunnen der Geschichte. Festschrift zum 65th Volker Bräutigam Geburtstag. [The Light of Heaven and the Bottom of History. Commemorative Book for Volker Brautigam on the occasion of 65th anniversary of birth], [in collaboration with F. Seils], ortus musikverlag, Berlin/Beeskow 2004
Polnische Orgelmusik nach 1945 [Polish organ music after 1945], VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, Saarbrücken 2009
articles & papers
August Freyer. His work on the pages of German music magazines in the nineteenth century, w: Organy i muzyka organowa, t. 12, a href=, Gdańsk 2003
Ein deutscher Pole oder ein polnischer Deutscher? Leben und Werk von August Freyer [A German Pole or a Polish German? Life and Work of August Freyer], „Organ” 2003 nr 4, s. 16
Klingende Architektur. Kleine Orgelgeschichte der Marktkirche zu Halle [Sounding Architecture. A Little Organ History of the Marktkirche], w: Die Marktkirche Unser Lieben Frauen zu Halle (ed. Sabine Kramer, Karsten Eisenmenger), Verlag Janos Stekovics, Halle 2004
Schöpferische Kraft im Schattendasein. Polnische Orgelmusik der Avantgarde – ein vergessenes Teilkapitel Musikgeschichte, w: Das Licht des Himmels und der Brunnen der Geschichte. Festschrift Volker Bräutigam zum 65. Geburtstag (ed. Franziska Seils, Michał F. Runowski), ortus musikverlag, Berlin 2004
A new look at the Arias of Stary Sacz, „Ruch Muzyczny” 2006 nr 4, s. 31
A German monument to a Polish martyr - Volker Bräutigam: Epitaph für Maximilian Kolbe, w: Organy i muzyka organowa, t. 13, a href=, Gdańsk 2006
Zwischen Staat und Rebellion. Orgelmusik in Polen und der DDR [Between State and Insurgency. Organ music in communist Poland and East Germany], „Osteuropa” 2008 nr 12, s. 103
critical & collective editions
August Freyer (1803-1883): Complete Organ Works Volume I, Volume I, US-Colfax: Wayne Leupold Edition, [w druku]
lexicografic entries
Polen (1800-1950), in: Repertorium Orgelmusik (ed. Klaus Beckmann), Schott, Mainz 1999
Deutschland (1800-1950), in: Repertorium Orgelmusik (ed. Klaus Beckmann), Schott, Mainz 1999
