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Filip Adam Zieliński is Polish translator and promoter of German-language literature, poet. Honorary blood donor and potential bone marrow donor since 2014. He was baptised on December 19, 1995, when he was three days old. His baptismal name was Filip Adam. He received his first communion in the church of Saint Catharina of Alexandria, Kędzierzyn-Koźle. He received sacrament of confirmation on April 29, 2011, from Andrzej Czaja, bishop of Opole. Elementary and middle school in Kędzierzyn-Koźle, during which period he showed interest in the priestly vocation. After the matura exam, he registered himself in administration at the University of Opole. Studied at the University of Opole (licenciate in administration, thesis: Benedict’s XVI teaching about nature, environment and their protection, 2020). Besides his native Polish, he speaks English and German. Since 2019 he works for the benefit of the people with disabilities. He lives in Silesia. Oldest of the two sons of Adam Zieliński, a graduate of the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts and a civil servant, and Danuta Zielińska (née Krzynówek), a cook. The other child is Jakub Mikołaj, an IT specialist.
Since 2018, Filip Adam Zieliński i has translated the texts of over 5,000 compositions and transcribed over 1,000 texts. He translated in whole and in part, among others, compositions of the world Baroque and other eras, papal documents, fragments of the Holy Scriptures (e.g. psalms, fragmentarily Lamentations of Jeremiah and the Book of Revelation), texts of prayers and church songs. He is the most prolific world translator of J.S. Bach's compositions (over 600 translations of his works). He has also translated the works of more than 1,000 other composers, e.g. Johann Friedrich Agricola, L.v. Beethoven, Johann Kuhnau, George Frideric Handel, Johannes Brahms, Johann Christoph Altnikol, composers of Bach Family and Gottfried August Homilius. His translations supported pro bono numerous concerts of the early vocal music (Heinrich Schütz, Georg Philipp Telemann, J.S. Bach or J. Pepusch) throughout Poland (Warszawa, Kraków, Wrocław, Łódź, Poznań, Gdańsk, Szczecin, Lublin, Bydgoszcz, Białystok, Katowice, Toruń, Olsztyn, Chorzów, Włocławek, Nowy Sącz, Tarnowskie Góry, Zgierz, Świdnica, Supraśl, Kamień Śląski, Radziwiłłów Mazowiecki, Radziejowice, Otwock Wielki) and abroad, as well as in scientific work (The Grażyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź, Feliks Nowowiejski Music Academy in Bydgoszcz). Zieliński cooperates with cultural institutions and early music ensembles in organizing concerts of vocal compositions, e.g. with Chopin University of Music, Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music, Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music, Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, Polish Royal Opera, the Lublin Opera, Ignacy Jan Paderewski Pomeranian Philharmonic, Zabrze Philharmonic, Schola Cantorum Gedanensis, Andrzej Szwalbe Musica Antiqua Orchestra, Toruń Symphonic Orchestra, Polish Camerata Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble La Tempesta, inCanto Foundation, Stichting Bachcantates Tilburg, Capella Cracoviensis, Alba del Mondo Ensemble, Kapela Polonica, BEL TEMPO vocal group, Scala Sancta vocal group and Regional Chamber of Physicians and Dentists in Łódź. When Zieliński is present at co-created concerts, he works with soloists and choir singers on the correct pronunciation and accentuation of German and English. Zieliński supports many cyclical musical events, such as Festiwal Bachowski Świdnica, International Mozart Festival "Mozartiana", MELOS International Music Festival, Baroque in Radość Festival, Organy Plus+ Festival, Bydgoszcz Baroque Scene, May with early Music Festival, Polish Camerata Swojemu Miastu Festival, Music of the Archives Festival, "To hear the architecture" Festival and "Bach vs Haendel: the Meeting, Which Never Happened" concert series. He cooperated as a translator and transcriptionist with the following websites: kbpp.org.pl, news.fsspx.pl, bach-cantatas.com, vmii.org. Zieliński provided translations and various texts (reviews, speeches and commentaries of performed vocal works) for music festivals and vocal recordings of the early music.
Filip Adam Zieliński wrote the first translation of a fragment of J.S. Bach's cantata whilst being a high school student, on June 30, 2013. He continued to work irregularly for the following years. During his studies, he initiated a year lasting relationship with a young physiotherapist Grażyna Weronika Banduchówna, who exercised a great influence in Filip's life. Thanks to her, on May 19, 2017, Zieliński decided to translate all of J.S. Bach's compositions in her honor. In 2017, after Zieliński undertook the task of translating all the texts of J.S. Bach's, he grew all four wisdom teeth. Deteriorating eyesight in December 2017 forced him to speed up his work. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was in quarantine three times. In May 2021, Zieliński initiated translation of J.S. Bach's works into Lithuanian. In January 2022, he was fined for not wearing a face mask. Due to cataract diagnosed in August 2022, Zieliński focused mainly on the literary work. In February 2024, Zieliński founded a musical ensemble Bachowskie Kolegium Polskie, which specializes in the early music performances. It's first concert presented BWV 54 sung in Polish with the text translated by Zieliński.
The basic principles applied by Zieliński in the work of a translator include:
1. A poetic translation written in an archaized language.
2. Texts appearing more than once have separate translations; Zieliński does not use one translation copied every time when the text appears in the original source.
3. Own translations of fragments of the Holy Bible included in the texts of the cantatas.
4. Translations into Polish of all foreign words in the German original (Emmanuel, Mahanaim, Hephata, Kyrie eleison, Amen, Abba, Hallelujah).
5. Retaining original punctuation where possible.
6. Information about the exact date of writing the translation.
7. Dedication.
With dedications to his translations, Filip Adam Zieliński honored hundreds of people associated with the performance of early music. Included in this group were Hanna Zumsande, Janneke Stoute, Jakub Burzyński, Nicholas Spanos, Coline Dutilleul, Susanne Langner, Lenneke Ruiten, Dominique Labelle, Anne Sofie von Otter, Csilla Zentai, Ewa Podleś, Lisa Larsson, Edith Mathis. Translators Zuell Philip Ambrose, Armin Teske, Andrzej Teske, Tobin Schmuck and Pamela Dellal were also given dedications. Zieliński made many corrections to the translaof his predecessors.
Since 2020 Filip Adam Zieliński has visited several hundred memorial sites in Poland (Opole, Wrocław, Warszawa, Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Katowice, Stara Kuźnia), mainly in Silesia. He cleaned the area around cemeteries, monuments, commemorative plaques, obelisks, wayside shrines, memorial trees, holy figures and crosses in public spaces from dirt and garbage and placed candles and flowers there. He refrained from materially commemorating of places unacceptable due to his conservative worldview (cemeteries of Soviet interventionists, places related to the communist occupation, partially liquidated as part of the decommunization of 2016). He commemorated, among others, graves of the Polish soldiers, Silesian insurgents, victims of German concentration camps and Russian forced labour camps, Polish statesmen (including Polish government-in-exile), ecclesiastics (nuns, priests, bishops, monks), Poles murdered by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, Wehrmacht and the Red Army.
Filip Adam Zieliński was awarded many times, including for honorary blood donation, literary work and patriotic activity:
2018 - Polish Red Cross Meritorious Honorary Blood Donor Decoration, 3rd degree
2019 - Order of Saint Stanislaus, Vth class
2020 - Pegasus Medal
2021 - Polish Red Cross Meritorious Honorary Blood Donor Decoration, 2nd degree
2022 - Decoration of the Polish Black Cross
2023 - Angelus Vitae Medal
2024 - Polish Red Cross Meritorious Honorary Blood Donor Decoration, 1st degree
2025 - Honorary Blood Donor Badge - Meritorious for the Health of the Nation
Filip Adam Zieliński regularly published on men's fashion in the classical approach. On a private blog, he shared his reflections on the Catholic faith on the occasion of the major feasts of the liturgical calendar. Until 2025 Zieliński owned a collection of over 800 ties. He published his poems devoted to the dragonflies in 'Odonatrix', journal of the Odonatological Section of the Polish Entomological Society (2019-2020).
Filip Adam Zieliński e-mail address: mailto:f.a.zielinski@interia.pl
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