PhD Mateusz Ryczek

Born in 1986, composer. In 2011 he graduated with distinction from the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, studying under Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil (composition), Cezary Duchnowski (computer composition), and Zbigniew Karnecki (theatre and film music). In 2019 he obtained the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts with his dissertation entitled “Emergence of Pitch Algorithms Based on the Cello Concerto ‘Phantoms’”.

He is a laureate of numerous composition competitions (including Crescendo in Tarnów – 1st Prize, 2004; the double bass composition competition at the Word Bass Festival – 1st Prize, 2008; Fides et Ratio – 3rd Prize, 2009; Composer’s Concert of the Year 2011 – 2nd Prize; XVI MERIDIAN International Festival Competition – 2020). He has been a scholarship holder of the Minister of Culture and the Marshal of Lower Silesia. In 2018, for his compositional activity combining artistic work with the promotion of contemporary music, he received the Award of the Mayor of Wrocław.

Mateusz Ryczek’s works have been performed many times in Poland and abroad (Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Turkey, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Belarus, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, USA, Ukraine), at festivals such as Warsaw Autumn (Young Circle of the Polish Composers’ Union concerts), Musica Polonica Nova, Musica Electronica Nova, Poznań Music Spring, Dialogi Festival (Minsk), World Music Days 2014, and Kyiv Contemporary Music Days.

He has participated in projects including Missa Solemnis, Fabryka dźwięku, Hallo Wrocław 2016! (Polish-German collaboration), Flexible Orchestra (as the only participant from outside the USA), and Music Masters on Air, within which his piano piece “Subgłębia nocy” (Sub-Depth of the Night) was performed at festivals in six European countries.

As a composer, he has taken part in numerous educational projects for children and youth, such as “Up and Down – To Be Like Karłowicz” (commissioned by the Szczecin Philharmonic), “Tutting” (creator and artistic director, Musica Electronica Nova 2017), “Step by Step” (art installation, sound design for a tower and the Witches’ Bridge), and “U prząśniczki siedzą, i...” (on the occasion of the Moniuszko Year).

He has also participated in composition courses such as Ostrava Days and Composer Collider with Ensemble MusikFabrik. He is the author of music for numerous theatre productions and for the film “Lag Island” by Tomek Tryzna. Between 2006 and 2011 he was a member of the Young Circle of the Polish Composers’ Union, and he is currently a member of the Union itself, serving as President of its Wrocław Branch.

In 2013, his monographic album PLANETONY was released by For Tune Records.