Ryterski, Rafał
Born in 1992 in Gdynia, composer, sound designer, multimedia artist (installations, audiovisual works), so ware designer, also involved in concert organisation and music education. The synthesis of the various styles from which he draws is a hallmark of his work. He distinguishes three main aesthetic tendencies in his music: glitch, noise, and techno. Most of his pieces involve multimedia, so ware, and sometimes physical electronic devices, giving him an opportunity to explore new identities for acoustic instruments. His music is rich in references and draws on many outside genres, a practice he terms genrebending.
He graduated in composition (multimedia specialty) from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw (2017, class of Krzysztof Baculewski, Barbara Okoń-Makowska, and Sławomir Wojciechowski) and in classical composition at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus (with Juliana Hodkinson, Simon Steen-Andersen, and Niels Rønsholdt). He furthers his education at various courses and symposia, including the Next Generation programme at Donaueschinger Musiktage (2016, 2017), Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt (2016, 2018). He also lectures in composition, sound art, and music technology, notably at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (2016–17), Elementi in Cracow (2018), and as guest lecturer at the Polish–Japanese Academy of Information Technology. In 2017–18 he worked as a composer and specialist in psychoacoustics within the Nightly application. Since 2019 Ryterski also produces and performs electronic dance music.
His works have been featured notably at the Digital Music Revolution, New Music Days in Gdańsk, Licences in Paris, Warsaw Autumn, Elementi, Kody, and Unsound festivals. He is also active as an organiser of music and multimedia productions such as the Atlas/Łąka concert (with the Warsaw University Academic Choir) and Anonymous opera performance for four voices, fteen instruments, electronics and visualisation, which he also authored. Other projects have included Roboty, Arduino, and Game Over (with the Kwartludium ensemble and Teoniki Rożynek, Cracow, Gdańsk, Warsaw, 2019) and We’re Here (with Katarzyna Kalwat, within the 2021 Warsaw Autumn Festival, Poland’s first concert focused exclusively on LGBTQ+ authors). He also creates multimedia installations for other authors, using Max/MSP so ware (Silence Inside, with Anna Sincini, 2015), SuperCollider (Suns, with Łukasz Radziszewski, 2017), microcontrollers and microcomputers (Katyń. Colour Theory, theatre play, dir. Wojciech Faruga, music by Teoniki Rożynek).
In 2021 he was nominated for the Polityka weekly Passport award in classical music for “consistently highlighting LGBTQ themes in Polish contemporary music.”
Selected works: Rituals for oboe, tuba and percussion (2012), Undefined Identity for six performers (2013), P.E.R.C.S. for percussion, motion and electronics (2014), Saudade. Override Music, electronic music (2015), Atlas for choir, 11 instruments, electronics and visualisations (2015), Silence Inside, multimedia installation (with Anna Kaleta-Kunert, 2015), Chronos’s Relativities for accordion and sampler (2015), The Return of Apollo for harp, piano and electronics (2016), [one page] MORE for four e-guitars and electronics (2016), Nici Mojr for three altos, electronics and visualisations (2016), The Witch, music to a film by Kamil Kruczkowski (2016), First we feel. Then we fall, music to an interactive film by Jakub Wróblewski (2016), Meme War for accordion, viola and electronics (2017), Anonymous, opera for four soloists, 14 instruments, electronics, visualisations and internet media (2017), Suns, multimedia installation (with Łukasz Radziszewski, 2017), di/am/sy/od for bass clarinet and contrabassoon (2017), Play by play for prepared cassette player (2018), Genderfuck for percussion, electronics and visualisations (2018), Disco Bloodbath for ensemble and electronics (2018), Taking Control for ensemble, electronics and visualisations (2018), Archangel for vibraphone concertante and three instruments (2019), Comfort Zone, electronic interludes (2019), Doppelgänger for four instruments, electronics and robots (2019), Jarosław’s Intimate Life, music to a show by Kuba Kowalski (2020), Sea of Prism (Cod’s lullaby) for ensemble and electronics (2020), Still Life, sound design to a show by Marta Górnicka (2021), Haphephobia for motion, percussion and electronics (2021), Love Language for three performers and audio playback, (2021), Breathe for three performers and electronics (2021), Tears are the Diamonds of the Soul, electronic music (2021), Bunbury, music to a show by Kuba Kowalski (2022), Momo, music to a show by Aga Błaszczak (2022), Totentanz for contratenor, orchestra and electronics (2022).