Artists

One of the most renowned American composers of the twentieth century. He has been called by the New York Times “our greatest living composer”. The Guardian writes that “There’s just a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history and Steve Reich is one of them.” From his early works with voice recording to his collaborations with the artist Beryl Korot, the digital video opera Three Tales, the development of Reich’s work has encompassed not only aspects of Western music, but also influences from Africa, Far East and jazz forms.

This born in Oxford musician and composer is best known for his work as guitarist for the British rock band Radiohead, in which he also plays the synthesizer and is responsible for electronic sounds. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing the alto sax, xylophone, Martenot organ, banjo, harmonica, and drums. In 2003 he put out his first solo album Bodysong, which was also the soundtrack of the film of the same title. He is also the creator of the widely critically acclaimed soundtrack to the 2007 film There Will Be Blood.

Richard David James was born in 1971 in Ireland. The critics refer to him as the most creative and influential artist in modern electronic music. When he was 20 years old he founded Rephlex Records together with Grant Wilson-Claridge in order to promote the underestimated, incomprehensible and partly unknown house music genre – acid techno according to him.

A British producer, guitarist, bassist and keyboardist, Adrian Francis Utley was born on 27 April 1957 in Northampton. After turning 18, the artist began his professional music career. He has collaborated with many jazz musicians, among them Big John Patron and The Jazz Messengers. Since 1991, he has been a member of the Bristol group Portishead.

British producer, keyboard and saxophone player, born on the 17th of September 1959 in Bristol. He graduated from York University in classical music. In 1981 he embarked on his career as a studio and concert musician. He has recorded and performed with Peter Gabriel, Tori Amos, The Cure, Tears For Fears, Portishead and Paula Rae Gibson.

He is one of the most outstanding Polish jazz musicians, a world class pianist, a brave explorer, original creator having his own musical language. In 1993 he received an individual distinction at Jazz Juniors, a year later he won 1st place at the International Competition of Jazz Improvisation in Katowice.

Musician, DJ and co-founder of the legendary DJ collective Niewinni Czarodzieje (Innocent Wizards). His recordings, remixes and artistic creations have been applauded by both Polish artists and foreign labels (including Compost Records, Sonar Kollectiv and Playground). In 2003 the Kayax recording studio released his full debut album entitled Envee i Niewinni Czarodzieje.

Piotr Orzechowski - a Polish jazz pianist, he was born in 1990 in Krakow. He now studies at the Krakow Academy of Music. He comes from a family with deep musical traditions. Since childhood he has been interested in jazz – his classical music education was complemented with jazz piano classes. He was noticed as an instrumentalist with an interesting personality, musical imagination and technical skills, but also as a responsible leader and composer of brilliant pieces – which has been confirmed by individual awards at nationwide jazz music festivals.

Composer and vocalist, Zubel is equally at home in either role. She completed her studies in composition under Jan Wichrowski, and her vocal education under Danuta Paziuk-Zipser. As an educator, she works with her Alma mater, the Music Academy in Wrocław.

Founded in 1997, the ensemble performs repertoire from a broad spectrum of musical genres. Admired for its coherent sound, rhythmic precision and dynamic performances, Synergy Vocals collaborates with the following groups: Steve Reich & Musicians, Ensemble Modern, Ictus, Asko|Schönberg and the London Sinfonietta.

20-member chamber orchestra that focuses on performances of contemporary music. Called by the New York Times “one of the most vital and original ensembles on the American music scene”, it works closely with eminent composers, including: Steve Reich, John Adams, David Lang, Anthony Gatto and Wolfgang Rihm.

On an everyday basis, conductor and artistic director of the following ensembles: Brooklyn Philharmonic, Alarm Will Sound and Crash Ensemble. Alan Pierson is an ardent advocate of contemporary music performance who has to his credit collaborations with such major composers as Steve Reich, John Adams, Augusta Reed Thomas, David Lang, Michael Gordon, Osvaldo Golijov, La Monte Young and Julia Wolfe.

Since September 1 2008, the Asko Ensemble and Schönberg Ensemble have been united in Asko|Schönberg: not an ensemble, not an orchestra, but a flexible group of musicians who can appear in formations of any needed size to perform twentieth- and twenty-first-century music. The music of great, established composers such as György Ligeti, György Kurtág, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Mauricio Kagel, Louis Andriessen who have secured their place in music history. But also the music of a younger generation, composers such as Michel van der Aa, Martijn Padding and Julian Anderson, and even the youngest generation, whose compositions are still wet from the ink.

Studied conducting under the guidance of Lucas Vis, Hiroyuki Iwaki and Jorma Panula. His dynamically developing career, ever since his first invitations to give guest performances in Belgium, Holland and then England, Italy and Spain, has secured him an international reputation, numerous favorable reviews and an assured place on the European contemporary music scene. He has collaborated with such composers as Mauricio Kagel, György Kurtág, Péter Eötvös, Luca Francesconi, Michel Van der Aa, Louis Andriessen, Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies and Philippe Boesmans.

The ensemble was founded in 1980 in Frankfurt-am-Main. It is among the leading interpreters and propagators of the newest music. The group numbers approximately twenty musicians from Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Poland and Switzerland, playing in string, woodwind and brass, as well as percussion sections. All members of the ensemble are in equal measure responsible for artistic, organizational and financial matters. Since 1985, the ensemble has performed at regularly organized subscription concerts and the Frankfurt Alte Oper.

The cooperation with the South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra Baden Baden and Freiburg under the baton of the American guest conductor Brad Lubman was a stroke of luck. This was clear through the clarity of expression and intensity of sound shaping in his interpretation of Alban Berg. The sultry atmosphere of Claude Debussy’s Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune was dense, and Igor Stravinsky’s ballet suite L’oiseau de feu unleashed the full power of the modern orchestra. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

The group was founded in 1985 on the initiative of Beat Furrer. It is comprised of 24 soloists specializing in contemporary music performance, particularly emphasizing democratic exchange among the musicians, the conductor and the composer, thereby rejecting the traditional hierarchical model of music practice. Part of this exchange is represented by regular workshops with composers. In the ensemble’s stylistically diverse repertoire are to be found items going back to the roots of classic Modernism, especially the Second Viennese School, and up to compositions by artists of the young generation, as well as jazz.

Founded in 1992 during the Bang on a Can Festival in New York, the Bang on a Can All-Stars ensemble is known all over the world for its ultra-dynamic concerts, as well as recordings of innovative music repertoire. Freely crossing boundaries between classical music, jazz, rock and world music, as well as experimental music, the ‘electrically reinforced’ group, comprised of six musicians, consistently shapes its own separate musical identity and expands the possibilities of music with new, unexplored territory. Its performances in the United States and abroad have placed a question mark over the definition of what a live concert is today.

A percussion ensemble created at the Academy of Music in Kraków on the initiative of Prof. Jan Pilch. The ensemble is comprised of students and graduates of the Academy. Dependent on the repertoire being performed, the composition of the ensemble is subject to change. Individual members of Amadrums specialize in the performance of classical, jazz, ethnic, avant-garde and popular entertainment music, collaborating with recognized performers, ensembles and orchestras on the Polish music scene.