Concert of Polish-Taiwanese improvisation

Nine thousand kilometers of distance disappear in a split second when they start playing live together. He: pianist from Taiwan. One: Polish artists. Together: pure improvisation, so that two distant musical worlds begin to speak in a common voice.

We invite you to a unique intercultural meeting in the field of music connecting Taiwanese pianist Shih-Yang Lee with Polish artists Zofia Ilnicka and Ola Rzepka in the City of Gardens. Free admission.

Shih-Yang Lee is a respected Taiwanese pianist, composer and curator, working mainly in the field of improvised music. He has performed in Europe and Asia at festivals such as Météo Festival in France, All Ears Festival in Norway, Jazz Improvise Meeting Festival in China, Freespace Jazz Fest in Hong Kong and KLEX Festival in Malaysia.

He collaborated on dance projects and founded the improvisational group Ka Dao Yin, with which he won prestigious accolades: Taishin Art Award, Golden Melody Award and Golden Indie Music Award. As a curator, he is one of the leading animators of the dynamically developing Taiwanese improvised music scene.

Zofia Ilnicka — flutist, composer and improviser, working on the borderline of classical, experimental and improvised music. In 2016 she graduated from the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. He explores advanced performance techniques and participates in the projects of DEAE, Hajstra Trio, Trio_io, Layers, Space Welders, Brzoska Kolektyw and Kraków Improvisers Orchestra. She has collaborated with the Pomeranian Philharmonic and the Toruń Symphony Orchestra; she has given concerts with Zygmunt Krauz, Agustí Fernández and Timothée Quost, among others.

Ola Rzepka — drummer, pianist, composer and performer. A graduate of the Academy of Music in Katowice and a scholarship holder at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen in the piano and drums class. He conducts music lessons and workshops, teaches piano improvisation. She has collaborated with Raphael Roginski and Antoni Ziut Gralak, among others. She is also the author of theatrical music.

Ilnicka and Rzepka form the DEAE duo for flutes, drums, keyboards and electronics. The starting point is the medieval works of Hildegard of Bingen, transformed into a partially composed contemporary material improvised, ordered and filtered by her own peculiar musical sensibility. In 2023, the band had a well-received concert premiere with the guest participation of Estonian double bassist Mingo Rajandi at the 12th Katowice JazzArt Festival and at the Jazzkaar Festival in Tallinn. The duo performed at the Days of New Music in Gdańsk, Lublin Jazz Festival, Jazz Club Od Nowa in Toruń, among others. He also collaborated with Axel Dörner and Erhard Hirt at the Avant Art Festival in Berlin, the final concert of the Ad Libitum festival at the Witold Lutosławski Studio and at the 13th Festival of Contemporary Music in Münster.

Shih-Yang Lee — piano (Taiwan)

Zofia Ilnicka — flutes (Poland)

Ola Rzepka — drums (Poland)