Ryterski, Rafał
Born in Gdynia in 1992, he is a composer, activist, interdisciplinary artist, and curator. The synthesis of musical genres is a hallmark of his work; Ryterski calls this practice genre-bending. In recent years, he has readily moved beyond the conventions of music alone, creating interdisciplinary works at the meeting point of performance and theatre. His art centres on identity, cultural phenomena specific to LGBTQ+ communities, and the exposure of mechanisms of violence.
His Totentanz (2022) was selected as the winning work at the 70th International Rostrum of Composers in 2024. He also won the composition competition organised for the 33rd Music Biennale Zagreb (2025) and shared both the main prize and the audience award at the 2024 Pestka Festival of Avant-Garde Theatres and Culture for Prayer Under the Miraculous Mosaic in the Parish Church of St Herself. In 2021, he was nominated for a Polityka Passport in the classical music category for “consistently introducing LGBTQ+ themes into Polish contemporary music.”
He graduated in composition, specialising in multimedia, from the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, and in classical composition from the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. Since 2020, he has taught composition, sound art, and technology at the Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology.
Ryterski’s music can be heard in concert halls and clubs alike. He has released two albums to date: Tears Are the Diamonds of the Soul (BAS, 2021) and Gaymers’ Cheatsheet (Pointless Geometry, 2022). He also writes for the theatre, cooperating with directors including Kuba Kowalski, Marta Górnicka, Agnieszka Jakimiak and Mateusz Atman, Aga Błaszczak, Anna Obszańska, and Przemysław Jaszczak. His music has been presented at numerous events and festivals in Poland and internationally.
Selected works: Rituals for oboe, tuba and percussion (2012), Undetermined Identity for six performers (2013), P.E.R.C.S. for percussion, movement and electronics (2014), Saudade. Music of Distortions, electronic music (2015), Atlas for choir, 11 instruments, electronics and visualisations (2015), Silence Inside, multimedia installation (with Anna Kaleta-Kunert, 2015), Relativities of Chronos for accordion and sampler (2015), Return of Apollo for harp, piano and electronics (2016), [one page] MORE for four electric guitars and electronics (2016), Twines of Moiras for three violas, electronics and video (2016), Strzyga, film score, dir. Kamil Krukowski (2016), First we feel. Then we fall, music for an interactive film by Jakub Wróblewski (2016), Meme War for accordion, viola, and electronics (2017), Anonymous, multimedia opera for two voices, two actors, fifteen instruments, electronics and video (2017), Suns, multimedia installation (with Łukasz Radziszewski, 2017), di/am/sy/odfor bass clarinet and contrabassoon (2017), Play by play for prepared tape recorder (2018), Genderfuck for drum set, electronics and video (2018), Disco Bloodbath for ensemble and electronics (2018), Taking Control for ensemble, electronics and video (2018), Archangel for extended concertante vibraphone, three instruments and audio playback (2019), Comfort Zone, electronic interludes (2019), Doppelgänger for four instruments, electronics and robots (2019), Jarosław’s Intimate Life, theatre music, dir. Kuba Kowalski (2020), Sea of Prism (Cod’s Lullaby) for ensemble and electronics (2020), Still Life, sound design for a production directed by Marta Górnicka (2021), Haphephobia for movement, percussion and live 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, theatre music, dir. Kuba Kowalski (2022), Momo, theatre music, dir. Aga Błaszczak (2022), Totentanz for countertenor, orchestra and electronics (2022), Pomiędzy / паміж / In Between, radio show (2022), Birdsongs for ensemble, audio playback and video, soundtrack to an original fake documentary about birds, migrations and escapism (2023), Amen, brother!, audio performance (2023), Prayer Under the Miraculous Mosaic in the Parish Church of St Herself, theatre music (2024).