Emil Miszk MODULAIRE — debut album MEGALOPOLIS

We invite you to the premiere concert of the project Emil Miszk MODULAIRE with a 16-member international line-up. This is the artistic premiere of the album MEGALOPOLIS — a new program created by trumpeter, composer and band leader Emil Miszek. Of particular importance is the fact that the event is planned in Gdańsk, a city with a strong Baltic identity, open to dialogue, international cooperation and cultural exchange.

The MODULAIRE project was created as an international formation bringing together musicians from Poland, the Baltic Sea region and the Nordic countries. His idea is to build a living ensemble in which composition, improvisation, collaboration and mutual listening create a common artistic space. Miszk, co-founder of Alpaka Records, has been developing international collaborations and projects based on variable compositions for years, in which precisely recorded music meets improvisation and collective action. One of the important reference points for Miszek is Frank Zappa — his approach to form, contrast and composition for large ensembles.

The MEGALOPOLIS album and its accompanying pre-release concert are more than a presentation of new musical material. It is a project based on the meeting of different sensibilities, experiences and performance traditions. At the heart of this work is the question of the contemporary ensemble: how many individual voices can coexist in a single, carefully constructed structure.

The project matured over several years, gradually combining different areas of Miszek's work as a composer, improviser and leader of ensembles. Instead of building music around a single, closed vision, MODULAIRE is built on trust. Musicians respond to each other, and each subsequent interpretation is created through listening, risk-taking, and shared responsibility. Precisely planned structures meet the unpredictability of improvisation. MEGALOPOLIS is a large-scale story about the relationship between the individual, the community and the increasingly complex world we inhabit together.

The inspiration for MEGALOPOLIS is the complexity of modern cities. The team functions as a network of independent voices, the meaning of which is revealed only in the relationship with others. The compositions mark a legible architecture, while leaving room for spontaneous decisions. Thanks to this, the music develops both through the recorded material and through what happens between the musicians at a given moment.

Instead of leading the listener through an unambiguous narrative, MEGALOPOLIS invites you to music that can change with each performance and requires mindfulness. This is the ambitious debut of a large band, growing out of Miszek's belief that diversity is not something to be overcome, but a material from which new musical possibilities can be created.

🎶 The concert will be preceded by an author's meeting with Emil Miszek together with an audiophile listening of the album MEGALOPOLIS, which will take place on October 4 at 16:00 in the Old Town Hall 👉 more information about the event

💿 The album will premiere on October 9, 2026.

Emil Miszk is a trumpeter, composer and improviser. He belongs to artists who treat the band not only as an executive composition, but as a space for thinking about the music and the relationship and responsibility for the common sound. He has been developing his own musical language for years, and his work grows out of the need to combine precision with openness. The structure, proportion and the conscious conduct of the narrative are important to him, but equally important remains the risk and the possibility of changing direction. Thanks to this, his music maintains the tension between discipline and freedom.

He is currently developing Modulaire, an international project and method of working with a large team, based on a simple premise: every voice matters, but none exists outside the responsibility of the whole. In 2019 he received the FRYDERYK Award in the Jazz Debut of the Year category for his album Don't Hesitate! recorded with the band Emil Miszk & The Sonic Syndicate. He was also nominated six times for the award of the FRYDERYK Phonographic Academy in the Jazz Album of the Year category. He is associated with many projects, including PESH, BLED, Tomasz Chyła Quintet and the historical trumpet quartet Tubicinatores Gedanenses. This diversity is a way of exploring different dimensions of sound: from large forms and contemporary jazz, through improvisation, to historical instrumentation.

In parallel with his artistic activity, he co-creates a space for independent music in Poland. As co-founder of Alpaka Records, he is involved in building one of the important venues for the contemporary jazz and improvised scene. His work combines the role of artist, leader, educator and co-creator of the wider musical ecosystem. At its core are attention to sound, trust in the process, and the belief that music can be a way to build relationships and understand the world. In 2025 he received the most important artistic scholarship in Poland — Młoda Polska.

Project coordinators: Ewa Jaszczurowska and Tomasz Lipski

The concert is an accompanying event of the 8th Eufonie Festival, organized by the National Centre of Culture

Eufonie is an international music festival that has been connecting the countries of Central and Eastern Europe since 2018. The idea of the event is to disseminate the cultural heritage of most of the countries referred to today as Central and Eastern Europe. Euphonie is an interdisciplinary festival that, by listening to music together, invites you to get to know each other's cultural wealth, dialogue with neighbouring countries and artistic exchange in the region. The Eufonie International Music Festival of Central and Eastern Europe is organized by the National Cultural Centre.

This autumn, from 12 November to 6 December, for the eighth time during the event, we will embark on a journey through the musical landscapes of Central and Eastern Europe. The Eufonie International Festival will be held in several cities this year, offering nearly 30 unique events. The theme of this year's edition is “The Golden Binder” — a story about music that has the power to build bridges and find hope in the most challenging moments of our shared history. NCK - St John's Centre is a partner of this event.

Detailed information about the program can be found on eufonie.pl.