Zagajewski, Artur

Born in 1978 in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, composer and music theoretician. He graduated with honours from the music theory class of Ryszard Daniel Golianek (2005) and the composition class of Bronisław Kazimierz Przybylski (2008) at the Music Academy in Łódź. He also studied electronic music with Krzysztof Knittel. In 2012, he obtained a PhD in composition under Zygmunt Krauze. He attended masterclasses run by Marek Chołoniewski (Cracow Music Academy) and Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil (Wrocław Music Academy).

His works have been performed at festivals such as Warsaw Autumn, Musica Polonica Nova in Wrocław, Premieres Festival in Katowice, 7th Festival of Musical Tradition and Avantgarde (Lublin), Loop Festival (Brussels), International Chamber Music Festival in Schiermonnikoog (the Netherlands), Ankara Music Festival, Łódź Nacht in Stuttgart, Arts Music Laboratory in Bydgoszcz, Fokus Łódź Biennale, Colours of Poland, contem. ucha at Łódź Philharmonic, Music at the Old Cloister (Łódź), Acoustic, Electronic and Multimedia Projection Festival (Brno), Sound Screen Festival in Bydgoszcz, Ballet Meetings in Łódź (in cooperation with Paulina Wycichowska), and Musica Moderna at the Łódź Music Academy. Between 2005 and 2008 he cooperated with video artist Michał Brzeziński, and their works were shown in galleries in Poznań, Warsaw, Szczecin, Katowice, Gdańsk and Wrocław.

He has worked with cellist Dominik Połoński, choreographer Paulina Wycichowska, performer Zorka Wollny, video artist Michał Brzeziński, as well as ensembles such as Bang on a Can All-Stars, Kwartludium, Arte dei Suonatori, and Polish Cello Quartet. He has published the results of his research on rock music in lectures and articles written for such magazines as Glissando and Operomania. His other music promotion activites include lectures and workshops on 20thand 21st-century music. He has sat on the juries of the mYear Musical Imagination Festival (Music Academy in Wrocław).

He is an award winner in competitions such as 850 Jahre Cottbus - Musikalische Bilder einer Stadt (honourable mention, 2006), BMW Crash! of the Zachęta Contemporary Art Association in Szczecin (honourable mention in 2006 and main prize in 2007), Tadeusz Baird Competition for Young Composers (2nd Prize in 2007 and 2009), Krzysztof Komeda Composers' Competition in Słupsk (honourable mention, 2007), Silver Glass Children's and Youth Contemporary Music Festival in Cracow (honourable mention, 2009), Grażyna Bacewicz International Composer Competition in Łódź (1st Prize, 2009), and the in-OUT-side competition of the Sound Screen Festival in Bydgoszcz (main prize, 2009). In 2010 he was awarded the Eureka Łódź Prize. In 2014 his Stabat Mater was nominated for the Polonica Nova Award in Wrocław. In May 2017, his work brut represented the Polish Radio and was awarded the highest prize at the International Rostrum of Composers in Palermo (the premiere performance of the work was recorded at the 2014 Warsaw Autumn Festival). Artur Zagajewski is assistant professor at the Music Academy in Łódź and music theory teacher at the Stanisław Moniuszko State Secondary Music School in Łódź, as well as a member of the Polish Composers' Union and the Warsaw Autumn Programme Committee.

Selected works: TR13 for tape and video (2005), Secession Club for alto saxophone and tape (2005), Lichtspiele in der Oberkirche for accordion and string orchestra (2006), Re­cycle I-IV (...and her damaged soul...) for alto and tape (2007), See Me for percussionist and tape (2007), Glassmusic-Motet for four instruments and tape (2007), 15-40. Light for recorders and tape (2007), Birds for chamber ensemble (various versions) and tape (2008), Fuzz G. B. for tape and video (2008), Leaves for chamber ensemble (2008), unhum for symphony orchestra (2009), mixes for tape and radio receiver (2009), Orgadronum for chamber choir (2009), Song of Nature for female voice, PVC tube, prepared piano, drum and computer (2010), Flakes of a Yellow Rose for cello and tape (2010), Chronophotographic Scenes, ballet (2011), Oratorio for Orchestra and Warsaw Citizens' Choir, concerto/performance (with Anna Szwajgier and Zorka Wollny, 2011), Stabat Mater for four mixed choirs and orchestra (2012), canto for 16 musicians (2012), EC 14 for four PVC tubes (2012), Nature morte for 24 PVC tubes (2013), Traktion Eins for cello (2013), brut for cello and ensemble (2014), Audio-Tree-Drama, music performance for flute, clarinet, oboe, trumpet and two trombones (2014), Solid for violin / cello and marimba (2014), Canzona for five cellos (2014), Mechanofacture for violin, bass clarinet, percussion, piano / synthesizer (2015), Woodcuts for bass clarinet, percussion and electric guitar, piano, cello, double bass and tape (2015), La città futurista for 16 amateurs and orchestra (2015), circulatio for accordion, quartertone accordion and orchestra (2015), blockhaus C for sound objects and 10 performers (2015), sculpture (from the way of the cross) for four cellos (2016), Steel­Eyed for two punk-rock voices, quartertone accordion, percussion, electric guitar, piano / synthesizer and computer (2016), Chanson for female voice (or melodic instrument) and cello (2016), Opera About Poland for clarinets, percussion, electric guitars, synthesizer, quartertone accordion, violin and cello (2016), Modulor for quartertone accordion and four double basses (2017).