Zbigniew Preisner (born 20 May 1955 in Bielsko-Biała, Poland, birth name: Zbigniew Antoni Kowalski) is a Polish film score composer, best known for his work with film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. Zbigniew Preisner studied history and philosophy in Kraków; never having received formal music lessons, he taught himself about music by listening and transcribing parts from records. His compositional style represents a distinctively spare form of tonal neo-romanticism. Preisner is best known for the music composed for the films directed by fellow Pole Krzysztof Kieślowski.