Piotr Orzechowski (Polish pronunciation: ; born 31 December 1990,

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

), also known by his stage name Pianohooligan, is a Polish

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

pianist and composer. He is a graduate of the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

and a winner of the Montreux Jazz Piano Competition and Jazz Hoeilaart, hailed by the critics as "the most creative and uncompromising young Polish jazz artist."

Biography

He was born in

, Poland. In parallel with his regular classical education, he was multiply awarded at different international jazz competitions such as "Jazz Juniors", "Jazz nad Odrą" or "Krokus Jazz". Since his win at Montreux Jazz Solo Piano Competition 2011 in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where he was awarded the 1st prize, he has been touring all over the world. He performs successfully within the realms of classical and improvised music, often blurring the boundaries between genres. This trait is also manifested on his solo debut album Experiment: Penderecki (

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

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, 2012), which was an attempt to explore the core of the style developed by the Polish composer by converting Krzysztof Penderecki's orchestral structures into solo piano. This was the first instrumental album from Poland recorded on prestigious London label Decca. Similarly his second solo album, 15 Studies for the Oberek (

, 2014) – a musical analysis of the various elements of the Polish oberek dance – stylistically remains suspended between folk music, contemporary music and jazz. He is the leader of High Definition Quartet. The ensemble's debut Hopasa (

EmArcy Records EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by Bob Shad for the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Cl ...

, 2013) is comprising the pianist's own compositions, as well as Bucolics (ForTune, 2015), presenting Orzechowski's original arrangements of music by

Witold Lutosławski Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szymanow ...

, which soon after its premiere won a place on

Jazz Forum ''Jazz Forum'' is a European jazz magazine based in Warsaw. It was established as a quarterly in 1964 by jazz bassist Jan A. Byrczek, who served as its editor-in-chief. It was the first jazz magazine published behind the Iron Curtain and allowed ...

magazine's prestigious list of the best Polish albums of all time. Apart from his solo activity as a jazz pianist, he also performs with leading Polish orchestras such as the

Sinfonia Varsovia The Sinfonia Varsovia is a Polish orchestra and musical institution based in Warsaw. The orchestra gives its concerts principally at its eponymous institution, located on Grochowska Street, Warsaw. History Waldemar Dąbrowski and Franciszek W ...

, the

Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra ( (NOSPR)) is one of Poland's radio orchestras and premier musical institutions. It was founded in 1935 in Warsaw and was later re-established in Katowice in 1945. Since 2006 it has been a "National ...

in Katowice, the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra, and the

Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra The Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra () is a Polish radio orchestra founded in 1945 in Warsaw by Stefan Rachoń. Initially, the orchestra made records only for Polish radio and television. In 1970, the orchestra began to tour and release record ...

. With

Marcin Masecki Marcin Masecki (born 6 September 1982 in Warsaw) is a Polish avant garde pianist, composer and conductor. He is a graduate of Berklee College of Music. In 2005 he won the main prize at the International Jazz Piano Competition in Moscow. Life a ...

and the

Capella Cracoviensis Capella Cracoviensis is a period instrument ensemble and a chamber choir based in Kraków, Poland. It was formed in 1970 by composer and music conductor Stanisław Gałoński (b. 1936), its first director and general manager. Capella Cracoviensi ...

, he recorded an album entitled Bach Rewrite (

, 2013) featuring J.S. Bach's harpsichord concertos performed on a Rhodes electroacoustic piano. The artist has collaborated with such prominent contemporary music composers as

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer best known as a pioneer of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, and canons. Reich descr ...

, and Krzysztof Penderecki. He has toured with highly esteemed jazz musicians, including

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock music, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was ...

, Avishai Cohen, Victor Mendoza, and

Michał Urbaniak Michał Urbaniak (born January 22, 1943) is a Polish jazz musician who plays violin, lyricon, and saxophone. His music includes elements of folk music, rhythm and blues, hip hop music, hip hop, and symphonic music. History He was born in War ...

. He has also contributed to the projects of such great figures in the world of music as

Adrian Utley Adrian Francis Utley (born 27 April 1957) is an English musician, record producer, and a member of the band Portishead.Jurek, ThomAdrian Utley Biography, Allmusic. Retrieved 31 December 2016 Career Born in Northampton,Mejia, Paula (2015)In Sea ...

of Portishead,

Carlos Zíngaro Carlos Zíngaro (or Carlos "Zíngaro" Alves, born 15 December 1948) is a Portuguese violinist and electronic musician active in free improvisation. Biography Zingaro studied classical music at the Lisbon Music Conservatory from 1953 to 1965, and ...

, Agata Zubel, Skalpel,

William Basinski William James Basinski (born June 25, 1958) is an American avant-garde composer based in Los Angeles, California. He is also a clarinetist, saxophonist, sound artist, and video artist. Basinski is best known for his four-volume album '' The Dis ...

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, and Krzysztof Knittel. In 2017 he has released his third solo piano double-album '24 Preludes & Improvisations' (

). This monumental work, alluding in its form to Johann Sebastian Bach's 24 Preludes and Fugues, by using as examples short musical structures ( Preludes), and equally short but far more complex improvisational creations (

Improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

s), artist intends to expound a new way of understanding the notion of jazz and self-expression in music.

Discography

Solo piano with High Definition Quartet Collaborations

References

External links

*
Pianohooligan
at Culture.pl {{DEFAULTSORT:Orzechowski, Piotr 1990 births Living people Musicians from Kraków Polish jazz pianists Alumni of the Academy of Music in Kraków Berklee College of Music alumni 21st-century Polish pianists

Biography

Discography

See also

References

External links