Performers

Consisting of students aged ten to sixteen, the vocal ensemble of the Mieczysław Karłowicz 1st- and 2nd-Level State Music Schools in Katowice under Joanna Marcinowicz has been part of the city’s music life for many years now, giving performances at the school (est. 1946) and elsewhere, and frequently sharing the stage with the region’s major musicians and ensembles.

Since 2008, Acrobat, a ferocious quintet of improvisers has been pushing the boundaries of chamber music and jazz through radical interpretations of composers like Dmitri Shostakovich and Witold Lutosławski. A band where orchestration options are limitless and a group filled with kindred progressive chamber musicians: Marty Ehrlich, Fung Chern Hwei, Sara Schoenbeck, Michael Sarin, and Michael Bates.

A conductor educated in Beirut (music conservatory and philosophy at the Lebanese University) and in Poland (choral conducting with Stanisław Krawczyński at the Academy of Music in Kraków and conducting with Marek Pijarowski at the Wrocław Academy).

Drummer, composer, and music producer, he graduated from the prestigious Post-Secondary Bednarska Jazz Studio in Warsaw. His career began in Latin American music bands. Joining Maanam in 2003, he played concerts with them and appeared on their last album "Znaki szczególne" ("Distinguishing Marks"). He performed with Poland’s major concert artists, appearing on their gold and platinum discs. He now plays with the hip-hop duo Łona and Webber, Radzimir ‘Jimek’ Dębski band, Marita Albán Juárez Quartet, and the SalsaCentral collective.

Jazz singer, arranger, composer, and producer, one of jazz scene’s most fascinating figures, highly praised for the style and technique of her interpretations, which combine freedom with precision. She performed at song and jazz festivals throughout Poland in the 1970s and 80s. Following the release of her debut album Sunrise Sunset (1988) she left for the United States, where she worked with Michał Urbaniak and Urszula Dudziak, among others, as well as taking up studies at Boston’s Berklee College of Music (completed in 1992). Two years later she moved to Chicago.

Founded by a group of graduates from the Academy of Music in Katowice and by Marek Moś, the Orchestra plays music from the classics to contemporary, with particular emphasis on Polish music. They have recorded numerous albums of music by Grażyna Bacewicz, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Witold Lutosławski.

Jazz violinist and composer. Already in his teens, he attracted attention with the extraordinary potential of his musical talent. Having graduated with an honours degree from Henryk Gembalski’s class
at the Katowice Academy of Music, he obtained a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music.

He studies with Jerzy Jurek at Warsaw’s Fryderyk Chopin Academy (now – University) of Music and on a French government scholarship with Max Bonnay in Paris. Since 2016 he has held the post of vice-chancellor of his alma mater.