1739 until 1741 (with breaks) studying performance and composition with Johann Sebastian Bach.

Between 1741 and 1751 Kirnberger lived and worked in Poland for powerful magnates including Lubomirski, Poninski, and Rzewuski before ending up at the Benedictine Cloister in Lviv (then part of Poland). He spent much time collecting Polish national dances and compiled them in his treatise Die Charaktere der Tänze. Kirnberger played a significant role in the