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Mateusz Smoczyński
Mateusz Smoczyński is a distinguished Polish violinist, composer, and bandleader renowned for his versatility across various musical genres. He is a co-founder of the Atom String Quartet and New Trio, leads a quintet, and performs in a duo with cellist Stephan Braun.
Smoczyński has performed on prominent stages worldwide, both as a soloist and with diverse ensembles, collaborating with acclaimed artists such as Branford Marsalis, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Markus Stockhausen, Paquito D’Rivera, Tomasz Stańko, Zbigniew Namysłowski, Bobby McFerrin, Anna Maria Jopek, Leszek Możdżer, and the NDR Big Band. As soloist he performed with leading Polish orchestras.
In recent years, Smoczyński has made significant contributions to symphonic composition. He has written five violin concertos with orchestra, including “Adam’s Apple” (2018), “2PiX” for violin and saxophone (2021), performed with Branford Marsalis, and “Fallen Angel” (2022), dedicated to Janusz Olejniczak.
His extensive discography features over 100 albums, including a solo release and a critically acclaimed collaborative album with Joachim Kühn, “Speaking Sound” (ACT Music, 2020), recognized as one of the year's top albums by Downbeat magazine. Since 2024, he has been signed with Warner Music.
From 2012 to 2016, Smoczyński was a member of the Grammy Award-winning Turtle Island Quartet. He performed over a hundred concerts with the ensemble at major U.S. venues and appeared on Tierney Sutton’s Grammy-nominated album “After Blue.” The Turtle Island Quartet’s album “Confetti Man,” featuring Smoczyński, was honored by the National Federation of Music Clubs as the best American chamber recording of the year.
Smoczyński holds the Grand Prix from the 2nd International Zbigniew Seifert Jazz Violin Competition and has been repeatedly named Jazz Violinist of the Year by Jazz Forum magazine. A graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Poland where he studied under Andrzej Gębski, he has served as an Adjunct Professor of jazz and world music at his alma mater since 2017.
Awards
Grand Prix at Zbigniew Seifert International Jazz Violin Competition
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Fryderyk HD: Sounds Good
by Iouri Lnogradski
The “HD" in this artist's name might seem like an objective coincidence (more on that below) or an elaborate PR nod to the obvious abbreviation for High Definition, “high precision." However, the reality is much more complex and cosmopolitan. The musician's full name is Frédéric Hoang Dong. He was born in Poland to ethnic Vietnamese parents. The notion of “high precision" in his life story emerges during his musical education when he unexpectedly decides to specialize in sound engineering after ...
Continue ReadingFryderyk HD: Sounds Good
by Scott Gudell
Fryderyk HD has a lot of pins in his musical map. His parents are Vietnamese and Polish, he was born in Poland and trained at both the Frederic Chopin University of Music (Warsaw) and Berklee College of Music (Boston.) His initial entry into the world of music was via sound engineering but he eventually switched to writing and performing with piano his instrument of choice. Sounds Good almost seems like a 'greatest hits' for the young pianist since ...
Continue ReadingFryderyk HD: Sounds Good
by Geno Thackara
Fryderyk HD clearly knows his stuff in the jazz world and, just as clearly, considers it a jumping-off point more than a home niche. His first outing has all the marks of a fresh mind whirling with a myriad of ideas, and ready to try them all on for size. Thankfully, it is also the kind of debut which is about exploring and synthesizing one's influences more than recycling them. Sounds Good can appeal to an impressive range of tastes ...
Continue ReadingStefan Braun & Mateusz Smoczynski: Keep On Turnin'
by Ian Patterson
A violin and cello duo might spark thoughts of chamber music, but Polish violinist Mateusz Smoczynski and German cellist Stefan Braun, classically trained though they are, are improvising musicians at heart; with Keep on Turnin' they revisit the jazz, fusion and funk songs that provided the soundtrack in their formative years. Though this is Smoczynski and Braun's debut, the mutual understanding nurtured over a decade of playing together is evident in both the intricate interplay and the ease with which ...
Continue ReadingMateusz Smoczynski: Metamorphoses
by Ian Patterson
Though violinist Mateusz Smoczyński has played with the likes of Tomasz Stanko, Branford Marsalis, Joachim Kuhn and Anna Maria Jopek, he's perhaps best known internationally for his four-year stint in Turtle Island Quartet and, currently, Atom String Quartet. With the latter, Smoczyński recorded Seifert (Zbigniew Seifert Foundation, 2017), its brilliant tribute to violin virtuoso Zbigniew Seifert. Seifert's shadow looms large again here, not least because this recording is a direct result of Smoczyński winning the 2nd Zbigniew Seifert International Violin ...
Continue ReadingPrimary Instrument
Violin
Location
Warsaw
Willing to teach
Intermediate to advanced
Zbigniew Seifert
violin
Tomasz Stańko
trumpet
John Coltrane
saxophone
Keith Jarrett
piano
Jean-Luc Ponty
violin
Turtle Island Quartet
band / ensemble / orchestra
