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| Zbigniew Karkowski | |
|---|---|
| Name | Zbigniew Karkowski |
| Birth date | 1958 |
| Birth place | Białystok, People's Republic of Poland |
| Death date | 2002 |
| Death place | Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation | Composer, improviser, sound artist, electronics |
| Instruments | synthesizer, guitar, sampler |
Zbigniew Karkowski was a Polish-born experimental composer and improviser active in Europe and Asia whose work combined electronic music, noise music, and acousmatic music. He studied and worked across institutions and scenes including Stockholm, Amsterdam, Tokyo, and collaborated with artists from Germany, France, United States, Japan, and Poland. His output included live electronics, chamber works, installations, and recordings released on independent labels associated with experimental music networks.
Born in Białystok in 1958, he moved to Sweden where he studied at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm and developed interests that connected him to the contemporary circles of Pierre Boulez, Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luciano Berio, and György Ligeti. He later pursued studies in Amsterdam and engaged with institutions such as the Institute of Sonology and interacted with composers linked to IRCAM, Experimentalstudio des SWR, Bourges Institute for Electroacoustic Music and figures like Hanns Eisler and John Cage by way of repertoire and discourse. His education put him in contact with performance venues and organizations including Musikhögskolan i Piteå, Royal Swedish Academy of Music, Koninklijk Conservatorium, and networks tied to Gaudeamus and Donaueschingen Festival.
His style drew on traditions associated with electroacoustic music, concrete music, industrial music, and the more extreme practices of noise music, intersecting with aesthetics from free improvisation, punk rock, hardcore punk, and contemporary classical music. Influences cited by peers and critics include composers and performers such as Alvin Lucier, Steve Reich, La Monte Young, Meredith Monk, Ennio Morricone, Elliott Carter, and practitioners from Fluxus networks. He worked with technologies developed in contexts like MIDI, modular synthesizer cultures tied to Moog Music, ARP, Roland Corporation and bespoke software approaches resonant with projects at STEIM, Max/MSP, and Pure Data communities. His pieces referenced timbral exploration found in works by Satoshi Ashikawa, Masami Akita, Ryoji Ikeda, Alva Noto, and the harsh textures associated with Merzbow and Nurse With Wound.
Karkowski's career spanned compositional work, live electronic performance, and sound installations, producing notable pieces that circulated in contexts alongside works by John Zorn, Meredith Monk, Laurie Anderson, Krzysztof Penderecki, Philip Glass, and Arvo Pärt. He released recordings on labels tied to LP and CD independent circuits and collaborated with distributors and promoters active in Berlin, London, New York City, and Tokyo. Major works and projects appeared in programs of venues such as Weserstudio, ICA London, MoMA PS1, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Kunsthalle Basel, and festivals like Mutek, CTM Festival, Bang on a Can, and LaBiennale di Venezia.
He collaborated with improvisers and composers from varied backgrounds, working with figures including Thurston Moore, Otomo Yoshihide, Ikue Mori, Christian Fennesz, Elliott Sharp, Masayoshi Fujita, Aernout Mik, Radu Malfatti, Peter Rehberg, Francis M. Gri, and ensemble formations linked to Ensemble Modern, Asko-Schönberg Ensemble, Ives Ensemble, and London Sinfonietta style projects. He participated in group improvisation contexts alongside members of AACM-related artists, the No New York lineage, and scenes connected to Rough Trade and Touch networks. His ensemble work involved instrumentations reminiscent of projects by Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Einstürzende Neubauten, Can, and Henry Cow.
His catalog includes chamber-electronic scores, fixed-media works, and collaborative albums issued on labels and platforms affiliated with Rashomon Records, Phthalo Records, Room40, Important Records, Erstwhile Records, Staalplaat, Psi Records, Hospital Productions, Ad Noiseam, and Atavistic Records. Recordings were archived alongside releases by Brian Eno, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Autechre, Throbbing Gristle, Coil, Current 93, and Nurse With Wound. Scores and tapes have been collected in institutions such as the Sonic Arts Research Centre, British Library Sound Archive, National Diet Library (Japan), and university collections at University of California San Diego and Stanford University.
He performed and presented works at festivals and venues including Sonar, Yokohama Triennale, Metamorphose Festival, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, MaerzMusik, Sónar, Festival d'Automne à Paris, WOMAD, Bergen International Festival, and international events in Oslo, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Malmö, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Ghent, Brussels, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Warsaw, Kraków, Tokyo, Kyoto, Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing, New Delhi, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Santiago (Chile), Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, and New York City.
He taught and lectured in contexts connected to conservatories and research centers such as Royal College of Music, Stockholm, Koninklijk Conservatorium, Tokyo University of the Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki, University of California, San Diego, Columbia University, New York University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and research platforms including IRCAM, STEIM, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, CCRMA, and CCRMA-linked workshops. His pedagogical work intersected with curricula and masterclasses alongside educators linked to Ircam's Atelier, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, ISCM World Music Days, and the International Computer Music Conference.
Category:Polish composers Category:Electronic musicians Category:Avant-garde music