Zubel, Agata (EN)

Zubel, Zubel-Moc, Agata, *25 January 1978 Wrocław, Polish composer, singer and teacher. She graduated from the Academy of Music in Wrocław in the composition class of J. Wichrowski (diploma in 2002) and in the singing class of D. Paziuk-Zipser (diploma in 2005). She also studied at Conservatorium Hogeschool Enschede in the Netherlands and took part in many composition courses. She has been teaching at the Academy of Music in Wrocław since 2002; in 2004 she obtained a doctorate degree in musical arts. She is a laureate of composition competitions (1999, 1st prize and PWM prize at the A. Panufnik National Composition Competition; 2000, 1st prize and PR special prize at the A. Didur National Composition Competition; 2003, 2nd prize at the P.I. Jurgenson International Composition Competition in Moscow), as well as interpretation competitions (2002, 1st prize at K. Penderecki International Competition of Contemporary Chamber Music; 2003, main prize at the 20th- and 21st-Centuries Music Competition for Young Performers; 2003, 3rd prize at the International Competition for Interpreters of Contemporary Music “Nicati” in Switzerland; 2005 special prize for the ElettroVoce duo at the International “Gaudemus” Competition for Interpreters of Contemporary Music in Amsterdam). Zubel’s works have been performed in Poland (Warsaw Autumn, Wratislavia Cantans) and in other European countries, as well as in the United Stated and in South Korea. As a vocalist, she has performed on many stages in Europe, North America and Asia. Together with the composer and pianist C. Duchnowski, she creates the ElettroVoce duo. She is the beneficiary of prestigious compositional commissions (Deutsche Welle, Festival Ultraschall in Berlin, Central European Music Festival in Seattle, Rockefeller Foundation, Wratislavia Cantans), numerous scholarships and grants, including the Wrocław Music Award twice (2005, 2008), as well as the winner of the Polish cultural award Paszport Polityki (2005). In 2007, an album by the duo ElettroVoce (PR) was released, and in 2009, Zubel released her own album with chamber compositions and a CD with songs by 20th-century artists performed by her (both CD Accord).

The aesthetics of Zubel’s musical language are closely related to her performance experience. Creating pieces for solo voice accompanied by electronics or instruments, the composer exceeds the boundaries of traditional vocal techniques, explores new performance techniques, and searches for unknown sonoristic values of sound. Drawing inspiration from the achievements of, among others, J. Cage and L. Berio, uses a specific type of musical rhetoric that allows for evoking a strong expressive charge and non-musical associations in the listener while maintaining the improvisational character of the songs (Parlando, Unisono I, II, Cascando). The element of colour also dominates in compositions for percussion instruments and in chamber works – often with the participation of an electronic layer, whose characteristic “bruitistic” sound and impulsive structure are typical of composers from the Wrocław centre (Maximum Load, String Quartet No. 1). In large ensemble pieces, apart from precisely constructed form, the spatial positioning of the performers plays an important role (Symphony No. 2, of Songs).

Zubel is an internationally recognised vocalist, specialising in interpretations of 20th- and 21st-century music. Her repertoire includes her own compositions and works by nearly 50 artists, including opera parts by S. Sciarrino, Ph. Glass, Z. Krauze, C. Duchnowski and D. Jaskot, which she performed, among others: on the stage of the Grand Theatre of the National Opera in Warsaw.