Atom Goes Funky — Atom String Quartet

As part of the XXXII Sądecki Music Festival IUBILAEI CANTUS, we invite you to the concert of the band Atom String Quartet. The event will take place on Tuesday, 10 November at 18:00 in the Lucjan Lipiński Małopolska Cultural Centre SOKÓŁ room. Atom String Quartet in its latest program takes listeners on a journey to a unique era of Polish music of the 1970s and 1980s (with a short trip in the 1990s). This is a time when jazz met funk, the sound of new, often electric instruments and the unique atmosphere of the country behind the iron curtain.

The band reaches for works not only by such icons as: Zbigniew Seifert, Krzesimir Dębski, Zbigniew Namysłowski, Michał Urbaniak, Władysław Sendecki, Andrzej Zaucha and Novi Singers, but also compositions from the repertoire of Perfect and Kombi.

Although not all of these songs fit into the literal sense of funk, they are united by a common pulse, energy, groove and characteristic sound of those years. It is a world full of lively, organic expression, which the Atom String Quartet translates into the unique language of the contemporary string quartet.

Performers: Atom String Quartet: Dawid Lubowicz — violin Mateusz Smoczyński — violin Michał Zaborski — viola Krzysztof Lenczowski — cello

Atom String Quartet is one of the most intriguing string quartets in the world, belonging to the group of the best jazz performers in Poland. The band combines the possibilities of a string quartet with widely understood improvisation. In his work — in addition to jazz — one can hear inspirations from Polish folklore, music from different regions of the world, as well as contemporary and classical music. The quartet was formed in 2010 in Warsaw and consists of violinists: Dawid Lubowicz and Mateusz Smoczyński, violinist — Michał Zaborski and cellist — Krzysztof Lenczowski. All musicians have received a thorough classical education — they are graduates of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. Everyone also composes and successfully conducts their own solo projects. Since winning the 13th Bielska Zadymka Jazz Grand Prix in 2011, the band has been a regular guest on the biggest Polish and world music stages.

The quartet has recorded nine original albums, including the Fryderyk Award-winning “Fade In” (2011), Places (2012) and the subsequent ones: AtomSphere (2015), Seifert (2017), Penderecki (2019), Essence (2022), UNIVERSUM (2024), Christmas with Atom String Quartet (2025) and Atom Goes Funky (2026), on which the musicians took a look funk music from the 1970s to the 1990s.

In the 2017/2018 season, the Atom String Quartet was the artist-in-residence of the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic in Szczecin.

In March 2021, the Atom String Quartet, together with pianist Hania Rani, performed Max Richter's piece Testament. Commissioned by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the composition was written and dedicated to the artists as a tribute to Krzysztof Penderecki, who died in 2020. The premiere of the song was recorded by TVP Kultura.

The musicians of the Atom String Quartet are regularly invited to participate in recording sessions of other musicians, cooperate with leading Polish and foreign artists and orchestras.