Kaca, Aleksandra
Born in 1991, composer, songwriter, manager, Italian literature scholar. She graduated in Italian studies from the Warsaw University while also studying culture production, journalism, and multimedia at the LUMSA University in Rome. As a translator, she has cooperated notably with the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, Cinema Italia Oggi Festival (Warsaw’s Muranów cinema and Cinecittà LUCE), and the Manetti Bros. directors. She has also completed postgraduate studies in Artistic Management (with the Warsaw School of Economics) and holds a master’s degree in composition from the class of Marcin Błażewicz and Krzysztof Baculewski at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. She has also studied composition with Simon Steen-Andersen and Niels Rønsholdt at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, and has participated in composition masterclasses including Komposition-Intensivwoche in Sauen (with Carola Bauckholt, Caspar Johannes Walter, and Manos Tsangaris), Warsaw Autumn (with Bernhard Lang and Pierre Jodlowski), and Donaueschinger Musiktage.
In her creative work, she focuses primarily on timbre. She uses unusual juxtapositions, such as harp and piano inThe Shadow Line or soprano and baritone saxophone with electronics in The Argument of Sleep. She tackles different musical genres. She is the founder and leader of the FJORS ensemble (composition, voice, keyboards, electronics). She won the 1st Prize at the 56th Tadeusz Baird Young Composers’ Competition, and was supported by the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy Association with the Music of Our Times programme for the recording (by DUX) and publication (by PWM Polish Edition) of The Shadow Line and Volière II. Her works have been performed in the United States, Denmark, and Poland, notably at Warsaw Autumn, Pulsar Festival in Copenhagen, Panorama Festiwal in Aarhus, Krzysztof Penderecki European Music Centre, Bydgoszcz Philharmonic, and Nowy eatre in Warsaw. As a member of improvisation collectives, she has appeared in concert notably in Budapest (with the UNITRA Trio with flutist Anna Karpowicz and performer Marta Grzywacz), Containerklang in Cologne, Ad Libitum Festival at the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw, and Warsaw’s Sanatorium of Sound in the SPATiF Club (ERROR Trio with Teoniki Rożynek and Żaneta Rydzewska). Since 2019, she has managed the Hashtag Ensemble cooperative, specialising in contemporary music performance. In 2015, she founded the composers’ group gen~.rate with Teoniki Rożynek, Żaneta Rydzewska, and Rafał Ryterski, organising the New Music Concerts cycle (2015–17) and the polysensory show EMBODY (2018). In February 2020, she participated in the Creators Conference forum of the ECSA in Brussels.
Selected works: The Shadow Line for harp, piano and cello (2014), Mémoire de l’ombre for cello (2015), Límites for string quartet and multipercussion (2015), Flarlægur for violin and viola (2016), Volière II for clarinet, cello and double bass (2017), Reecting Pool for ensemble (2017), Motion Blur for viola, accordion and electronics (2017), The Argument of Sleep for saxophones and electronics (2017), Unseenfor ensemble, lights, video mapping and electronics (2018), Common Ground for ensemble and electronics (2018), infinite blue for cello, symphony orchestra and live electronics (2019–20), rilievo for orchestra and electronics (2020).