Violist, composer and inventor, born in Wrocław in 1988. He  studied viola with Wolfgang Klos and electroacoustic composition with Karlheinz Essl at the University of Music in Vienna (graduating with honours) as well as at Yale University  and Wrocław University. In 2012–21 he worked with Klangforum Wien, participating in many CD productions and concerts  throughout the world. Currently he is a member of The Black  Page Orchestra in Vienna, the Nimikry duo and Duo van Vliet.

His intensive research into the technology for digitising gestures  on string instruments has resulted in an international patent.  Currently, this technology is used by Zalech’s company DigitAize  Smart Music Instruments.

As a violist and composer, he regularly appears at the leading festivals of new music, including Huddersfield, Wien Modern, Ultrasonic in Berlin, and Transamériques in Montreal. He has performed, lectured, and run workshops on the invitation of leading  academic institutions including Teatro Colón Academy in Buenos  Aires, Pyotr Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow, Electronic  Music Collective in New York, National Music Conservatory in  Beijing, and University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. His successful Vienna Konzerthaus solo debut with Grisey’s Les  Espaces acoustiques (2017 Wien Modern Festival) received excellent reviews in the Austrian press (Die Presse, Der Standard). He  gave the first Polish performance of the same work at the opening  concert of the 2022 Warsaw Autumn Festival with the New Music  Orchestra and Sinfonia Varsovia under Szymon Bywalec.

In his scientific work, he focuses on researching electronic augmentation of classical acoustic instruments and their use in  the arts. In his training and artistic work alike, Rafał Zalech pursues the goal of combining composition and interpretation, classical and other musical styles. In so doing, he consciously relies  on the inner-musical discourse in composition and sound and develops his own mode of bonding with the audience beyond  the usual sonority and structures.

Rafał Zalech has received scholarships from the Austrian Ministry of Culture, Thyll-Dürr Foundation, Mica Austria, the J. Windisch scholarship, and is a member of the Syl programme of  the Tokyo Foundation. In 2017, he was awarded a starter scholarship by the Austrian Federal Chancellery (arts and culture) for  the best graduates of art universities throughout Austria. In 2022  he received the prestigious Erste Bank Composition Prize for lifetime achievement.