Trębacz, Ewa International Festival of Contemporary Music Warsaw Autumn

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Born in 1973 in Cracow, she is a Polish-American composer permanently residing in Seattle. Her works range from purely instrumental (solo, chamber, and symphonic) to compositions with computer-generated sound, soundtracks for experimental animated films, and spatial audiovisual pieces. Space is an integral part of Trębacz’s works, and frequently acts as a catalyst for improvised actions performed in spaces which boast unique acoustics. She creates her improvisations in collaboration with invited musicians, and records them using three-dimensional (immersive) sound recording techniques (Ambisonics). These recordings would later become sound material for future compositions. 

Trębacz studied composition with Bogusław Schaeffer at the Academy of Music in Cracow (graduating in 1999) as well as information science at the Cracow Academy of Economics (2000). She soon le for the United States and in 2004 she became one of the first PhD students in Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS) at the University of Washington in Seattle, from which she obtained her PhD in 2010. Currently she works at DXARTS as a Research Scientist and teaches courses related to electroacoustic and computer music as well as digital arts. While in Seattle, she returned to the violin and to public performances after completing private studies with Finnish-born violinist and teacher Ilkka Talvi. 

In 2009, her composition things lost things invisible for Ambisonic three-dimensional space and symphony orchestra was commended at the 56th UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris. Her monographic CD, including two chamber music pieces and three orchestral works, was released in 2013 by Polish Radio, the Polish Composers’ Union, and POLMIC Polish Music Information Centre in the Polish Music Today series. 

Since 1998 Trębacz has cooperated with the Animated Film Studio of the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow (primarily with Robert Sowa). In 1999 she won the City of Cracow Artistic Scholarship. She has received composer commissions and grants for artistic projects from many festivals, institutions, and ensembles, including the Klangspuren Festival, Warsaw Autumn, Musica Polonica Nova in Wrocław, Polish Composers’ Union, University of Washington School of Drama, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation / USArtists International, Allied Arts Foundation (Listen UP! Music by Women grant, 2018), Seattle Modern Orchestra, Kin of the Moon and NOCCO – North Corner Chamber Orchestra (Seattle). Her electroacoustic works have been presented, among others, during the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) and the conference of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF), Mise-En Festival, and Splice Festival 2, as well as many other festivals and conferences dedicated to electroacoustic and computer music. 

Selected works: Aletheia for string orchestra (2000), Il Fonte Adamantino for string quartet and vocal ensemble (1996–2002), Spinning Zone for percussion and electronics (2002), Chordochromies for harpsichord and fixed electronic media (2003), Ephemerae for symphonic wind ensemble (2005), Curriculum Vitae, digital video (2005), Minotaurfor horn and surround sound (2005), things lost, things invisible for Ambisonic space and orchestra (2007), ERRAI. Immersive Audiovisual Space for soprano, horn and audiovisual immersive media (2009), ANC’L’SUNR for symphony orchestra and spatial soundscape (2012), Iriviskia for violin and French horn with surround sound (2015), Ligeia for invisible soprano, chamber ensemble and surround sound (2016), Winter After Times of Fire for ensemble of improvisers and surround sound (2019), Inanna Descending for variable ensemble and Ambisonic sound (2019), Metanoia, concerto for violin, string orchestra and surround sound (2020), The Tower of Broken Mirrors, Ambisonic soundscape based on improvised performance (2021), A Machine for Entropy for chamber orchestra and electronic sounds (2022) .