Assistant Professor Ignacy Zalewski, PhD
Beyond Conservatism, Beyond the Avant-Garde – In Search of an Original (Third) Way
The Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz
27 May 2021, 2:00 pm
He is a graduate of the Zenon Brzeski School of Music in Warsaw (in the class of violin under Prof. Janusz Kucharski and Assistant Professor Maria Orzechowska, and in the class of composition under Prof. Sławomir Czarnecki); moreover, a graduate of The Chopin University of Music in the class of composition under Prof. Marcin Błażewicz (2009–2014). He also studied Symphony and Opera Conducting in the class of Prof. Marek Pijarowski (2012–2013). He honed his compositorial skills during individual masterclasses with Prof. Krzysztof Penderecki (2014–2015), and at numerous courses under, among others, Prof. Wolfgang Rihm (Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, 2010), and Prof. Lowell Liebermann (Mannes School of Music, New York, 2014). Since 2014, Ignacy Zalewski has been a lecturer at his Alma Mater; while since 2015, he has served as an Assistant Professor. He received his Doctor’s degree in 2015, and his Assistant Professor’s degree in Musical Art, in 2020. He was the Composer-in-residence of the Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra (2013–2014), and of the Oskar Kolberg Philharmonic Kielce (2016–2017).
Works by Ignacy Zalewski were performed by conductors such as, among others: Jacek Kaspszyk, Paweł Przytocki, Marzena Diakun, Wojciech Michniewski, Janusz Przybylski, Szymon Bywalec, Jessica Cottis, Jakub Chrenowicz, Jacek Rogala, Dawid Runtz, Piotr Sułkowski, Tadeusz Wicherek, Kamil Parcheta, Przemysław Fiugajski; by soloists, among whom there are: Klaudiusz Baran, Peter Barsony, Marek Bracha, Aleksander Dębicz, Maciej Frąckiewicz, Elżbieta Gajewska, Paweł Gusnar, Gergely Ittzes, Paweł Janas, Leszek Lorent (on numerous occasions), Ewa Osztrosits, Olga Paciej, Jacek Szponarski, Robert Szpręgiel, Agata Szymczewska, as well as ensembles and orchestras, such as: Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Slovenia RTV Symphony Orchestra, Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the National Opera in Warsaw, Polish Radio Orchestra, Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra, Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Chopin University of Music Symphony Orchestra, Chopin University Chamber Orchestra, K. Namysłowski Symphony Orchestra in Zamość, the Philharmonic Orchestras of: Łódź, Lublin, Opole, and of Świętokrzyska Philharmonic Orchestra; Wilanów String Quartet, Hashtag Ensemble, Duo Karolina Mikołajczyk & Iwo Jedynecki, Sed Contra Ensemble (Ukraine), trio In:te:gro, and the string quartettes: Wilanów, MAAK Group, Reverb Ensemble.
His compositions were performed during such festivals as, among others: Niedersächsische Musiktage (Germany), CAFe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival (Hungary), 23rd International Students’ Music Festival in Kioto (Japan), Poznań Musical Spring, CODES: Festival of Traditional and Avant-Garde Music in Lublin, The New Epiphanies Festival, Warsaw Music Encounters, Mazurkas of the World Festival, Świętokrzyskie Days of Music, as well as during the international concert cycle European Contemporary Composers Orchestra (organised by the European Composers and Songwriters Alliance) in Lublana (Slovenia), the ‘Generacje’ cycle (W. Lutosławski Concert Studio, Warsaw), and the session ‘Musica Moderna’ (University of Music in Łódź).
Since 2009, Ignacy Zalewski has been conducting; he specialises in contemporary repertoire.
In the period of 2013–2018, he was the conductor of the Hashtag Ensemble. He conducted performances of works by such composers as, among others: Peter Maxwell Davies, Arvo Pärt, Louis Andriessen, Michael Beil, Andrzej Karałow, Aleksander Kościow, Marcin Błażewicz, Paweł Buczyński, Dariusz Przybylski, Wojciech Błażejczyk, Michael Schelle, Katarzyna Szwed, Adam Porębski, as well as his own compositions.
He performed, i.a., in the Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic in Łódź, Wrocław Philharmonic, Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio in Warsaw, the Royal Castle in Warsaw, the Ballroom of the Łańcut Castle, the Centre for Contemporary Art, as well as at numerous festivals, such as: Poznań Musical Spring, Musica Electronica Nova Festival in Wrocław, The Musical Gardens Festival in Warsaw, Warsaw Music Encounters. In 2016, the live recording of a composition by Wojciech Błażejczyk, titled ‘Warsaw Music’, recorded during the Musica Electronica Nova Festival (Wrocław, 2015), performed by the Hashtag Ensemble under Ignacy Zalewski, qualified to the final of The Prix Palma Ars Acustica, international competition of the European Broadcasting Union. As a conductor, he has recorded 4 albums.
Ignacy Zalewski has authored soundtracks to more than twenty theatrical, radio and TV plays, for which he received numerous awards (for instance, during the Dwa Teatry Festival in Sopot, 2015 and 2019).
Furthermore, he is a member of ZAiKS (since 2012), while since 2018, he has been a member of the Audit Committee of the Association. He has also been a member (since 2018) of the Young Scientist Council, an advisory body to the Minister of Science and Higher Education, being the only representative of arts therein. Since 2018, Ignacy Zalewski has had a show titled ‘Nie tylko Chopin’ [More than Chopin] in the Polish Radio RDC, dedicated to Polish classical music. Moreover, he is a columnist of the Presto music magazine. In addition, he delivers popular science lectures on Polish music (e.g., during the Festival of Polish Science in Warsaw, in the Polish Philharmonic ‘Sinfonia Baltic’ in Słupsk, at the Voivodeship Pedagogical Library in Olsztyn, and for the wszechnica.org website).
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS:
AT THE CHOPIN UNIVERSITY OF MUSIC:
Dean of the Department of Composition and Theory of Music (2020–2024), Head of the Chopin University Modern Ensemble, Secretary of the New Music College at the Chopin University of Music, Head of the Computer Techniques Studio, Supervisor of the Artistic and Academic Students Circle at the Department of Composition and Theory of Music.
