An eminent Polish conductor as well as violinist and chamber musician; founder and artistic director of AUKSO – Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy; director of the AUKSO Summer Philharmonic and auksodrone festivals. He was the founder and longtime first violinist of the Silesian Quartet. The artist has a special preference for crossover projects, which has led to collaborations with leading Polish electro-acoustic and foreign electronic music artists, as well as concerts with a galaxy of Polish jazz stars. Moś is also a highly regarded interpreter of contemporary Polish music. He has conducted the world premieres of compositions by Aleksander Nowak, Aleksander Lasoń, Zygmunt Krauze, Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil, Cezary Duchnowski, and Agata Zubel. His recordings have been released under such labels as Nonesuch, EMI Classics, Anaklasis, DUX, BeArTon, and CD Accord. His numerous accolades include the award of the International Rostrum of Composers in Paris, Coryphaeus of Polish Music, the Silver Medal for Merit to Polish Culture – Gloria Artis, and several Fryderyk Awards; he has been granted with honorary citizenship of the City of Tychy. Apart from his intense concert and recording schedule, Moś is a lecturer at Katowice’s Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music.

One of Europe’s best chamber orchestras, for the last two decades – Poland’s flagship ensemble. Its repertoire ranges from classical masterpieces to contemporary music. The orchestra has gained recognition with its interpretations of music by Polish composers. Such masters as Wojciech Kilar, Zbigniew Bujarski, Aleksander Lasoń, Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil, Piotr Moss, Cezary Duchnowski, Aleksander Nowak have entrusted AUKSO with the task of premiering their works. The ensemble has also scored successes with its recordings of film music by world-famous composers such as Elliot Goldenthal, as well as soundtracks for computer games. Crossover projects combining classical music with jazz, rock or alternative trends have become a trademark of the ensemble, which collaborates in these fields with such artists as Leszek Możdżer, Tomasz Stańko, as well as Aphex Twin and Jonny Greenwood. With the latter two musicians, they recorded an album for the American record company Nonesuch. AUKSO has also won the Fryderyk Award of the Polish Phonographic Society for their Chopin CD recorded with Janusz Olejniczak and for ahat-ilī – Sister of Godsand Siren. Melodrama aeterna by Aleksander Nowak.

Free-jazz clarinettist and electroacoustic music composer, highly regarded in Poland and abroad. He studied at Poznań’s Academy of Music and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover. As an instrumentalist and improviser, he has collaborated with, among others, Mikołaj Trzaska, Ken Vandermark, and Evan Ziporyn. Member of numerous music projects such as Hera, Undivided, Saagara, LAM, and a duo with Kuba Ziołek. His works demonstrate inspirations from avant-garde, ethnic, klezmer, jazz, minimal, and repetitive music. Initially mainly expressing himself as a clarinet player, with time he developed his musical language using synthesisers, guitar effects, and computer tools in order to enrich his sound. Electronics became his new form-building medium, while the clarinet is treated as a point of departure for electroacoustic transformations. Zimpel has appeared at festivals in Poland (OFF Festival, Tauron New Music, ENEA Spring Break, Unsound) and worldwide (Chicago Jazz Festival, Rewire in the Hague, MUTEK in Barcelona, Suoni Per il Popolo in Montreal). His accolades include “Polityka” weekly’s Passport Award and the Artistic Award of the City of Poznań.

Born in Rybnik, Poland in 1994; a saxophone player and composer. He initially learned the cello, taking up the sax only after several years. A graduate of Copenhagen’s Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium and Cracow’s Academy of Music, he studied with such teachers as Lee Konitz, Steve Lehman, and David Binney, among others. He performs with his own trio (Michał Barański – bass, Łukasz Żyta – drums) and in many other projects, for instance with Piotr Orzechowski and Marcin Masecki, as a sideman – with the Franciszek Pospieszalski Sextet and Kamil Piotrowicz Sextet. He has produced albums for such rap artists as Ten Typ Mes (Hello Baby) and Koza (Sky over Berlin). Publicly and critically acclaimed both in Poland and abroad, Więcek is the winner of a Fryderyk Award for Jazz Debut of the Year and Mateusz Music Award of Polish Radio Channel Three for his debut album titled Another Raindrop. It came out in the cult series of ‘Polish Jazz’, which also released the next two projects by Kuba Więcek Trio: Multitasking (“Polityka” weekly’s Album of the Year 2019) and Kwiateczki (with Paulina Przybysz, 2021). Więcek’s music fuses jazz with classical, electronic, folk, rock, and hip-hop music inspirations. A synthesiser is an indispensable tool that he uses both in the studio and at live concerts. Since 2017 he has regularly been listed in the “Jazz Forum” polls among the best young generation saxophonists and musicians. In 2020 the US “DownBeat” magazine placed him among the ‘25 For The Future Musicians with the potential to shape the genre’.

An extremely versatile musician: percussionist, composer, and improviser; graduate of the Chopin Academy (now University) of Music in Warsaw; bronze medal winner in the Delphic Games in South Korea (in the category of solo percussion). Along with classical education he developed an interest in jazz. He is now highly regarded both as a performer of contemporary classical music (works by Helmut Lachenmann, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Tadeusz Wielecki, Zygmunt Krauze, and Tomasz Sikorski) and jazz (collaborations with Zbigniew Namysłowski, Wojciech Staroniewicz, and Jan Smoczyński). He has appeared with jazz, world music, rock, blues, and pop musicians, as well as electronic music artists. He is a member of Hashtag Ensemble and LAM trio. In his solo projects he expands the sonic and performative possibilities of the percussion set. He builds his musical narration out of elements of improvised, experimental, and free jazz music while retaining its sensitivity and expressive power. His solo albums explore the borderland between the avant-garde, electronics, and ethnic music. He also composer for feature and animated films.

A Polish nu-jazz duo set up in 1998 by Marcin Cichy (also known as ‘Meeting by Chance’, hip-hop producer and founder of Blend Records) and Igor Pudło (aka Igor Boxx, DJ and electronic music composer). The music of these two DJs and producers was broadcast on BBC Radio by the founders of the Ninja Tune label, for which Skalpel later began to record. The duo’s sound has changed over the years, but it always oscillates around a jazz core, combined with electronics, hip-hop, and ambient. The duo’s trademark is the use of sampling technique as the main integrating and form-building element of their music. They have won acclaim both abroad and at home, receiving the “Polityka” weekly’s Passport Award for popular music. Their most recent album, Highlight, came out in March 2020.

Percussionist; a leading Polish vibraphonist. He performs contemporary classical, popular, and ethnic music. He studied at Warsaw’s Chopin Academy (now University) of Music and Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium in Copenhagen. His numerous artistic projects include performances in a duo with Magdalena Kordylasińska-Pękala, collaborations with Mitch&Mitch, Bartosz Weber, Kukla Band, and long-time membership of Kwadrofonik ensemble. He is also a composer (the ballet Xenophonia. Symphony for Another, jointly with Bartłomiej Wąsik – a Malta Festival commission, dir. Jan Komasa; music for radio drama-spectacle Hunchback after Sławomir Mrożek, for the Polish Radio Theatre, dir. Jerzy Schejbal). For his work as a soloist and chamber musician, he has received numerous accolades, including Decoration of Honour ‘Meritorious for Polish Culture’ (2015). Pękala is currently an assistant professor at his alma mater in Warsaw.

Singer and instrumentalist, songwriter, composer of theatre and film music; curator and music producer; documentary film director and scriptwriter; promoter of Polish and foreign traditional music; originator of Monodia Polska singers’ ensemble, which performs songs from oral tradition. In 2017–2019 he presented a broadcast series titled A Musical Journey through Poland on Polish Radio Channel One. In 2019–2021 he hosted the Thursday editions of Źródła
(Sources) magazine on Channel Two. Since 2020 he has had his own original programme titled Oh Yes Mazovia on Polish state television TVP3 Warsaw. He promotes Polish traditional music as a singer, researcher, music journalist, and academic teacher. He studies and guards the treasure hoard of religious and secular songs handed down for generations exclusively in oral tradition. He is also a screenwriter and director of ca. 70 documentaries on this subject, radio and television presenter (ca. 200 broadcasts). Thirty years ago he was one of the pioneers of the revival of interest in traditional music performed in crudo. For more than 25 years he has held singers’ meetings dedicated to Polish traditional song. His work led to the emergence of numerous vocal ensembles in the majority of academic cities. With Monodia Polska he performs medieval and Renaissance polyphony, presenting this repertoire every year at such festivals as Actus Humanus, New Epiphanies, and Eufonie. He is the music curator of Monodic Music Festival in Płock, dedicated to Gregorian chant and to broadly conceived church music.

A sopran born in Warsaw; graduate of the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. She has for many years given concerts with the best Polish chamber ensembles and symphony orchestras. She specialises in the interpretation of contemporary music, including works by Crumb, Ligeti, Haubenstock-Ramati, Stravinsky, Mykietyn. She has premiered compositions by Pärt, Nikodijević, Caine, Knapik, Nowak. Apart from most recent music, she also successfully performs pieces from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic repertoires. She has sung as guest artist at opera houses in Poland, Ireland, Estonia, Spain, and Italy. She also appears internationally at prestigious festivals (Aix-en-Provence, Contrechamps), on foreign tours (such as the concert tour featuring Lutosławski’s song cycle Chantefleurs et chantefables), as well as on special occasions (among others, the recital Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris). She is the winner of major prizes and distinctions in vocal competitions both in Poland and abroad. In 2016, she was awarded Orphée d'Or (Académie du Disque Lyrique) for her debut album real life songs (2015); in 2017 she was presented with the Passport Award of the “Polityka” weekly. Many recordings with her participation are nominated and awarded with the Fryderyk Awards of the Polish Phonographic Society.

A highly acclaimed conductor and teacher; graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music at the University of Silesia; Professor of Musical Art in the field of conducting. She has founded and directed many vocal ensembles, leading them to success. In 1990 she set up Camerata Silesia, of which she is the director. Under her leadership, the Camerata became one of Poland’s best vocal ensembles and won international renown. Szostak’s main fields of interest are early and contemporary music. She has conducted forgotten and freshly rediscovered works, as well as world premieres of music by contemporary composers. She has recorded several dozen CDs and DVDs as well as music for the Polish Radio archive. Her numerous accolades include the Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis. Szostak teaches at the University of Silesia.

One of Poland’s leading vocal ensembles. Founded in 1990 by Anna Szostak, it soon won recognition in Poland and abroad, which was confirmed by invitations to such festivals as the Warsaw Autumn, the Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival, Chopin and His Europe, Wratislavia Cantans, and to prestigious concert halls, including London’s Royal Festival Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Rome’s Parco della Musica, the Palais de Beaux Arts and Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the Berlin Konzerthaus, Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, and the Lanfang Theatre in Beijing. Early and contemporary music take pride of place in the ensemble’s repertoire. The Camerata’s excellent interpretations were highly valued by Krzysztof Penderecki, under whose baton the ensemble performed St Luke Passion, A Polish Requiem, Seven Gates of Jerusalem, and Canticum canticorum Salomonis. Camerata Silesia premieres many works by composers of New Music, which are frequently dedicated to this ensemble. Recordings of music by Silesian composers have a special place in the Camerata’s extensive discography. Their albums have won several Fryderyk Awards.

Born in 1979 in Gliwice, he studied composition at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice and at the University of Louisville School of Music. Nowak’s compositions have been presented at many prestigious festivals (such as the Warsaw Autumn, Sacrum Profanum, Festival of Premieres ‘Polish Modern Music’ in Katowice, Festival of Polish Music in Kraków, and others), as well as during concerts in the United States and a number of European countries (including the 54th International Rostrum of Composers in Paris). They have been commissioned and performed by London Sinfonietta, the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, Alarm Will Sound, NOSPR – the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy, Ensemble OMN, and the Silesian Quartet. The opera occupies an important place in his output. His most recent compositions in this genre are ahat-ilī – Sister of Gods (to a libretto by Olga Tokarczuk), staged in 2018, and the results of cooperation with Szczepan Twardoch: Drach. Dramma per musica (awarded with the Coryphaeus of Polish Music and the O!Lśnienia prize), Siren. Melodrama aeterna, Pokora. Dramma giocoso, premiered at the AUKSODRONE 2019, 2020 and 2021 festivals. His accolades include, the Guarantees of Culture award of TVP Kultura state television channel (2011), the Passport Award of the “Polityka” weekly (2018), the Coryphaeus of Polish Music award of the National Institute of Music and Dance for Personality of the Year (2021), while his albums ahat-ilī – Sister of Gods and Siren. Melodrama aeterna (ANAKLASIS) won the Fryderyk Awards of the Polish Phonographic Society. Since 2020 he has held the post of Head of the Chair of Composition and Music Theory.

Born in 1987 in Dębica; author and veterinary surgeon; publicly and critically acclaimed as one of the most interesting fantasy writers in recent years. His early texts, under the pen name of Ajwenhoł, were later published in such magazines as “Nowa Fantastyka”, “Lampa”, “Fraza”, and “Fenix Antologia”. In his writings he explores fairy-tale and oneiric worlds, using myth as a narrative basis and to convey his message. His book debut, the 2014 novel I Love You, Lilith (Prószyński & S-ka) was followed by The Empty Sky (2016), The Tale of the Serpent’s Heart or a Second Tale about Jakób Szela (2019), and Agla. Aleph (2022), all published by Powergraph. His literary prizes include the Nike Literary Award, the Janusz A. Zajdel Award of the Polish science fiction and fantasy fandom, the Jerzy Żuławski Literary Award, ‘Nowa Fantastyka’ Award for the best Polish book of the year, Śląkfa Silesian Fantasy Book Club awards, the ESFS (European Science Fiction Society) Award, a nomination for Gdynia Literary Prize, and (in 2022) Kraków UNESCO City of Literature Prize for his novel Agla. Aleph.

A French composer, music theorist and architect of Greek descent, living in 1922–2001; a leading twentieth-century artist, visionary, and experimenter, who strongly influenced the perception of music and organisation of music material. He emigrated to Paris to avoid being victimised for his participation in the Greek Civil War. In France he studied with Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, and Olivier Messiaen. In 1957–1962 he was part of the Groupe de Recherches Musicales led by Pierre Schaeffer, where he created electroacoustic works. In his output Xenakis aimed at a formalisation of music. His dense textures composed of glissandi and clusters are derived from a stochastic process making use of mathematical formulas and theory, including the Fibonacci sequence, game theory, probability calculus, and set theory. He developed this concept using computers and algorithms. In his late works he departed from highly complicated models for the sake of clarity in musical progressions. He discussed his theories and studies during lectures, presentations, and courses, as well as in research papers. He was a founder of musical centres conducting research into the nature of sound and mathematical models in music.

Born in 1957 in Los Angeles, a composer; co-founder (with Julia Wolfe and Michael Gordon) of the New-York-based Bang on a Can collective. He received his musical education at Stanford, Iowa and Yale universities. His numerous accolades include Grammy and Pulitzer Awards. He is one of the most widely performed US composers, with a stylistically and formally varied output that includes operas, symphonic, chamber, and solo music. His works, conceptually calculated and emotionally expressive at the same time, have been commissioned by the world’s major music institutions such as New York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Barbican Centre. He also composes film music. His soundtrack for Youth (dir. Paolo Sorrentino) won nominations for the Oscar and Golden Globe Awards, among others. Lang’s music also frequently appears in the contemporary ballet and dance. It has been released under such labels as, among others, Sony Classical, Harmonia Mundi, Teldec, BMG, Point Records, Chandos, Decca/Argo, and Cantaloupe Music.

Born in 1958 in Philadelphia, USA, a composer; co-founder (with David Lang and Michael Gordon) of the New-York-based Bang on a Can collective. She studied at the University of Michigan and Yale University. Author of orchestral works for large performing forces as well as chamber music. Her compositions combine rock-like ecstatic quality with minimalism. Designing tension and culminations is an important aspect of form construction in her works. She has been inspired by American folk music and pop culture. In her compositions she sometimes refers to historical events, as in the Pulitzer-winning oratorio Anthracite Fields. Her music has been performed by leading US symphony orchestras. She collaborates with architects, directors, choreographers, and video artists on multimedia projects. She is also a teacher, among others at New York University. Her music has been released under such labels as Decca, Naxos, Cantaloupe Music, Teldec, Sony Classical, and Universal.

Born in 1956 in Florida, a composer; co-founder (with Julia Wolfe and David Lang) of the New-York-based Bang on a Can collective. He graduated from New York University and Yale University. In 1983 he founded the Michael Gordon Philharmonic, renamed in 2000 as the Michael Gordon Band. He writes both large-scale orchestral and chamber music, particularly for such ensembles as Ensemble Modern, Alarm Will Sound, and Kronos Quartet, which premiere his works. The directness and austerity of Gordon’s music result from inspirations with New York’s rock music underground. He extends conventional instrumental sound by using samples, electronic transformations, and guitar effects. He combines performances of his music with other media, especially with video art. He applies topophonics to both musician and audience arrangement. He has been commissioned by, among others, New World Symphony, Lincoln Center, the Carnegie Hall, Stuttgart Ballet, Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, BBC Proms, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, SettembreMusica, and the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival 2000. His music has been released under the Cantaloupe, Nonesuch, and Argo labels.

Musician, educator and culture animator; member of The Complainer and Mołr Drammaz bands, she is associated with the indie label mik.musik.!. She has recorded several solo albums and given performances in Poland and abroad. For 20 years she has worked with children, teenagers, adult and senior audiences, teaching numerous original music workshops. She collaborates with Polish and foreign music institutions and artists. She was the curator of the EUgenius children’s stage organised as part of the “Attention! Culture” programme to mark the inauguration of the Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union. She is also the initiator and curator of Muzykodrom – a venue for education outside the system. She has contributed to such UNESCO projects as Katowice – Capital of Culture and #Krakowice2018 Annual Meeting of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Since 2017 she has run the educational cycle for families AUKSO4KIDS. Nominated for the “Culturist of the Year” title granted by the Polish Radio Channel 3 House of Culture (in 2011 and 2014).

Musician, composer and multi-instrumentalist, experimenting with instrument construction and untypical sources of sound. Author of film and theatre music. Founder of Small Instruments group which explores the novel sound of a unique type of instruments. He also creates sounding structures and sound installations in urban space. His works have been presented, among others, at the Warsaw Autumn and the CODES Festival of Traditional and Avant-Garde Music in Lublin. He teaches workshops, gives presentations and lectures for music teachers, children, teenagers and adults on such subjects as exploring new sources of sound, the idea of field recording, and building one’s own instruments. He organises exhibitions dedicated to instruments and experiments with sound. He also promotes the toy music movement, and is the author of the first monograph on the history of the toy piano.

Publisher, producer and curator of music projects. Early in his career he worked as a music journalist for Polish Radio Channel Two, “Ruch Muzyczny” magazine and the German “MusikTexte”, as well as the Polish mass media. He was a co-founder and long-time editor of “Glissando” magazine. Presently he writes for “Ruch Muzyczny” and focuses on managing his own original record label Bôłt Records. As a curator, member of programme committees and music consultant, he has collaborated with such music festivals as Warsaw’s Ad Libitum, Lublin’s the CODES Festival of Traditional and Avant-Garde Music, Wrocław’s Musica Electronica Nova, as well as the British Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. He is a great promoter of the musical achievements of the Polish Radio Experimental Studio, as well as co-author (with Michał Libera) of the educational book for children entitled M.U.ZY.K.A. (2017).

HCH is the name of a radio duo formed by Jacek Hawryluk (musicologist and music journalist associated with Radiostacja, now with Polish Radio; vice-director of Polish Radio Channel Two since 2012, founder of “Płytomania” and “Płytowy Trybunał Dwójki” radio programmes, and contributor to “Gazeta Wyborcza” and “Ruch Muzyczny”) and Bartek Chaciński (music journalist and columnist, collaborating with Polish Radio since 2004, previously head of “Machina” magazine’s music section, now head of the culture department of the “Polityka” weekly, author of Dictionaries of Most Recent Polish Language). These two have shared the air since 1995 (Scout Radio / Radiostacja) and joined forces in 2004, presenting for 13 years the programme cycle entitled “HCH” – first on Polish Radio Channel Four, then Channel Three. On PR 2 they can be heard in the “Nocturne”, “Summer Nights”, “Night Zone”, and “Summer Zone” series. They also collaborated on Polish Television’s “WOK” (“All about Culture”). Since 2016 they have written original concert notes for AUKSO.