Composer and multimedia artist specialising in contemporary classical and experimental music, born in 1993 in Łódź. Her works combine instrumental and electronic music with video art, new media, and experimental theatre forms. She has recently taken up social issues such as environment pollution with textile waste and women’s situation in Poland. 

She obtained a master’s degree in classical composition with Malcolm Singer at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London (2017). She was twice a recipient of the Guildhall Artist Fellowship (2018 as a composer, 2019 as a librettist in the annual Opera Makers programme of London’s Royal Opera House). She had previously studied composition with Olga Hans at the Academy of Music in Łódź (2012–17) and culture studies (BA in creative writing) at the University of Łódź. In 2020, she completed the Experimental Video and Moving Image Course at the London College of Communication (University of the Arts London).

Dalach’s music has been performed in Poland, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It has been commissioned by, and presented at, contemporary music festivals such as Warsaw Autumn, Sacrum Profanum, Musica Privata, Musica Moderna, and the International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt. Her works have been premiered at Wigmore Hall, the Robin Howard Dance Theatre, Milton Court Concert Hall, City University of London, London Transport Museum, Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic in Łódź, Warsaw Philharmonic, Cracow’s Collegium Novum (Jagiellonian University), and during the Composers’ Forum at Indiana University (USA). Her music has been featured in the New Music Show on BBC Radio 3. 

Dalach collaborates with such new music ensembles as Plus-Minus, EXAUDI, Workers Union Ensemble, Ensemble Kompopolex, TWOgether Duo, Trio Layers, as well as visual artist Maja . Ngom, pianist Feliks Nagl, poet and librettist Oge Nwosu, choreographers Ruby Frances Jones and Stephanie Handjiiska. 

She has taken part in masterclasses and workshops such as the International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt (2018), Next Generation at the Donaueschinger Musiktage (2017), Synthetis International Summer Course for Composers in Radziejowice (2016, 2017), and Warsaw Autumn (2017), taught by leading new music composers such as Zygmunt Krauze, Agata Zubel, Mark Andre, Johannes Kreidler, Stefan Prins, Alexander Schubert, Ashley Fure, Marco Stroppa, Julian Anderson, and Ramon Lazkano. She was awarded the Witold Lutosławski Scholarship in 2016 and the Łódź Province Marshal Artistic Scholarship in 2018. 

Monika Dalach has won numerous awards in competitions for composers and writers, including the Guildhall School’s Tracy Chadwell Prize for a work for voices and instruments (premiered at London’s Wigmore Hall, 2017), the 1st Prize at the 2nd National Competition for a Small Dramatic Form, organised by the Łódź House of Literature and Polish Writers’ Association SPP (2015), honourable mentions in the 56th Tadeusz Baird Young Composers’ Competition (2015) and the USAIHC International Ruth Inglefield Composition Contest (2015), 3rd Prize at the competition for a small electroacoustic piece held by the Kielce Philharmonic (2014), and 1st Prize in the Little Symphony competition for composers (2014). 

Selected works: The Locomotive – Adventures between Tuwim’s Words for amplified accordion, cello and electronic layer (2013), Pandora for symphony orchestra (2014), stuck.in.magazine for amplified harp and live electronics (2015), (R)evolutions for orchestra and three actors (2015),Tick!-Time for harpsichord, harp and cello (2015), stuck in basement for amplified cello and electronic layer (2015), malfunction (h2t) for electronics (2016), Oscillations for two amplified pianos (2016), Ethe:space for oboe, alto saxophone, double bass, two percussionists, piano and video (2016), Lily ist von ihrem... Abenteuer Zurückgekehrt for soprano, cello, bass clarinet and trombone (2017), Error: The Peculiar Galaxies Database for amplified cello, piano, electronic layer and video (2017), [FuckUp Night] for vocal ensemble (2017), 19:00 SUNDOWN for amplified accordion, three reed ranks, electronic layer and video (2018), taped for electronics and tape recorder (2018), On and On for electronics (2018), Shout 1–3 for amplified violin, cello, bass clarinet, percussion, electronic guitar, electronic layer and video (2017–19), Carbon Is the New Black for three MIDI controllers, audio playback and video (2020), Kobiety są | Women are for marimba, audio playback and video (2021).