Born in 1987, she grew up in Tymbark, Lesser Poland. She studied with, among others, Szábolcs Esztényi and Elżbieta Aleksandrowicz, later also in Zygmunt Krauze’s composition class at the Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź (2006–16), majoring in eurhythmics. In 2014 she studied composition and visualisation with Dietrich Hahne at the Folkwang University for the Arts in Essen (as an Erasmus+ student and later a KAAD scholarship holder). In 2017–18 she obtained a Chinese government scholarship to continue her studies at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She is currently a Master Special student at Basel’s Music Academy (class of Caspar Johannes Walter and Johannes Kreidler). In 2019 she received a Witold Lutosławski scholarship. She has been commissioned to write music by the Society for New Music in Cologne. 

Her works have been performed during the Musica Moderna sessions in Łódź, Musica Privata Festival in Łódź, Woche Neue Musik in Essen, the concert series ‘_like a Polish sunny day’ at Baselga di Piné, the Nowowiejski Anew Festival in Radom, as part of the BÉTON Brut & Bruits project in Cologne, Festival of Accordion Music in Przemyśl, Kurt Weill Festival in Dessau/ Bauhaus, Pergine Festival, Contemporary Composers’ Festival in São Paulo, Dialog series at Basel’s Gare du Nord – Bahnhof für Neue Musik, and Champ d’Action in Antwerp. 

Anna Sowa’s collaboration with the theatre-and-dance ensemble OFF Harnam has led to their joint projects being presented at the Łódź Music Theatre, at the FRU Festival, Touch the Theatre Festival, and Royal Arcades of Art at Warsaw’s Royal Castle. In March 2013 she created music for Dance Theatre Pro’s production of Jean Genet’s The Maids presented during the Touch the Theatre Festival in Łódź. 

With Margherita Berlanda and Dorota Jasińska she co-founded the kalakara group for instrumental theatre projects.


In her works, Anna Sowa demonstrates an interest in electronics and the idea of syncretic music. With visual artist Xiaole Zhang she has notably created the sound installations Dwelling andErwartung presented in Kalbe (Germany) as part of the summer programme Künstlerstadt Kalbe, as well as Receiver Not Found, shown at the contemporary art ruhr (C.A.R.) in Essen as part of the C.A.R. Talente series and during the 5th Piotrków Art Biennale (2019). 

Sowa is the initiator and co-organiser of the Controlled Festival in Radom, member of the Polish Composers’ Union’s Youth Circle, IAWM (International Alliance for Women in Music), and the Polish Institute of World Art Studies. In 2011–17 she taught at the Oskar Kolberg Music Schools in Radom, and in 2016–17 at the Chair of Eurhythmics and Piano Improvisation of the Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź. 

Selected works: Variations on the Polish Folk Melody Tymbark Mazurka for cello (2011), One time... for accordion (2013), Second Time... for two accordions (2014), An... for instrumental ensemble and video (2015), Krawall for orchestra and electronics (2015–16), ...nAfor five dancers, electronics and video (2016), Pizzicato for two performance artists and electronics (2017), Dwelling, installation (2017), Erwartung, installation (2017), Receiver Not Found, installation (2018), Seh, do, yek...! for violin, accordion and electronics (2018), Lass mich heraus! for trombone quartet (2018), Concerto for accordion duo and chamber orchestra (2018), Rote Kugel for clarinet, violin and electronics (2019), String Quartet (2019), smar for soprano saxophone, double bass and electronics (2019), Étouffe for violin, accordion and electronics (2019), Setz Dich bitte hin for instrumental ensemble (2019), Rima Glottdis for flute, electronics and video (2019), (un-) und...and_able for instrumental ensemble and electronics (2020), fourth wall for five performance artists and electronics (2020), Message for the Year of the Metal Rat II for two violins, accordion, piano, percussion and electronics (2020).