Łuc, Rafał

A graduate of the Karol Lipiński Music Academy in Wrocław in the accordion class of Zbigniew Łuc and of the Royal Academy of Music in the class of Owen Murray, from which he majored as the second-best student, receiving the Lady Theodore Holland Prize and Bache Fund Prize for his achievements. In April 2015, he obtained a PhD in musical art.

During his UK residency he has performed at Saint-Martin-inthe-Fields, Barbican Centre, King’s Place, Bristol’s Colston Hall, and twice at the Wigmore Hall as a finalist of the Young Concert Artists Trust and Patron’s Award competition.

In 2010 he received two prizes at the IBLA Grand Prize Competition and the 3rd Prize and Special Prize at the Andrzej Krzanowski International Accordion Competition.

He has held several scholarships from the Council of Wrocław, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, International Education Foundation, Crescendum Est-Polonia Foundation, Solti Foundation, and four times from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. In 2008, he was awarded the Young Poland scholarship. As a soloist and orchestra musician, he has worked with conductors including Valery Gergiev, Pierre-André Valade, Lionel Bringuier, Ernst Kovacic, Łukasz Borowicz, and Szymon Bywalec, and ensembles such as BBC Symphony, London Sinfonietta, London Contemporary Orchestra, Rambert Dance Company, Wrocław Opera and Philharmonic. He is very active as a chamber musician, regularly appearing with cellist Jessica Hayes, and has founded the Duo van Vliet with violist Ian Anderson.

Rafał Łuc often cooperates with composers on new accordion repertoire. He has premiered solo and chamber works by Cezary Duchnowski, Paweł Hendrich, Gavin Higgins, Aleksander Nowak, Julian Philips, Jacek Sotomski, Mikołaj Laskowski, Rafał Zalech, Adam Porębski, and many others. In November 2015, he took part in the first performance of Georg Friedrich Hass’s latest opera, Morgen und Abend, at London’s Royal Opera House.

In May 2015, Rafał Łuc’s solo album acc++ca was released by DUX, featuring works by Wrocław composers for accordion and electronics.

He plays a new concert accordion, the Pigini Sirius Millennium, purchased thanks to the financial support of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Royal Philharmonic Society.