He will be laid to rest in the cemetery’s Avenue of the Meritorious, the final resting place of prominent musicians, writers, actors and public figures.
In an obituary, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage described Michniewski as "one of the most important personalities of contemporary Polish music, an outstanding conductor, composer and pedagogue, endowed with an extraordinary talent and sensitivity."
Born in 1947 in the central city of Łódź, Michniewski studied conducting, music theory and composition at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw.
Although he achieved early success as a composer, he later devoted himself exclusively to conducting.
He worked with leading Polish orchestras, including the Warsaw Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia and the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and collaborated with the National Opera in Warsaw, where he conducted numerous 20th-century works by Benjamin Britten, Leos Janacek and Philip Glass, as well as Polish composers Elżbieta Sikora and Paweł Mykietyn.
Michniewski also served as music director of the Poznań Philharmonic and artistic director of the Grand Opera in Łódź.
Beginning in 1991, he declined permanent posts and appeared only as a guest conductor.
He toured widely in Europe, the Americas and Asia.
His honours included the Gold Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture, an award from the Polish Composers’ Union for promoting contemporary Polish music, and the Polish recording industry’s Fryderyk Prizes.
(mk/gs)