BIO
Anna Dobrucka
Born in 1989 in Cieszyn, Poland. Currently living in Venice, Italy.
LANGUAGES
ENGLISH, POLISH, ITALIAN – fluent (some unconscious thought translation from ENG and ITA to my mother tongue may occur)
SPANISH – fluent in listening, writing, reading, needs 3 weeks in Spain to be speaking again
FRENCH – advanced I won’t give a University lecture yet but I can tell you where I ate last night and how good it was
Portuguese, Catalan, German, Japanese – met them, used them, left them
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EDUCATION
2023-2026 – Master of Composition – Conservatory of Music Benedetto Marcello, Venice, Italy
Master of Composition – Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music, Gdańsk, Poland
2020-2023 – Bachelor of Composition – Conservatory of Music Benedetto Marcello, Venice, Italy
2020-2021 – Master of Music Pedagogy – Institut Jaques-Dalcroze – Haute École de Musique, Geneva, Switzerland
2014 – 2015 Political Science: Trans-Atlantic Relations – ERASMUS + INTERNSHIP University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal
2013 – 2015 Master of Political Science (International Relations, International Security) – Pedagogical University, Krakow, Poland
2011 – 2012 Piano Pedagogy – ERASMUS SCHOLARSHIP Conservatório Superior de Música Joaquín Rodrigo, Valencia, Spain
2009 – 2012 Bachelor of Music Education, Piano Performance – University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
2003 – 2009 2nd level Diploma of Professional Musician class of piano performance and Dalcroze eurhythmics – I. J. Paderewski Secondary Music School, Cieszyn, Poland
1995 – 2001 1st level Diploma of Professional Musician (Piano Performance) – I. J. Paderewski Primary Music School, Cieszyn, Poland
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COURSES
2024 Warsaw Autumn composer workshops with Sergej Newski, Wojciech Blecharz, Raphaël Cendo
Summer course with Francesco Filidei and Mauro Lanza + ensemble Collettivo_21
2021 Golandsky Institute Summer Symposium, Taubman Approach. New York, NY
2021 MentiParti Summer Academy: Partimento method in composition and improvisation with Tobias Cramm, Basel, Switzerland
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AWARDS RESIDENCES
2023 Composer in residence – MONTEVERDI MOSAIK project in collaboration with the contemporary music ensemble Azione Improvvisa. „Monteverdi-inspired“ pieces will be performed in the framework of COMMUTE festival in April 2023 in Tallin, Estonia.
2022-2023 Composer in residence – a project in collaboration with the Gustav Mahler Research Centre (GMRC), commission for a chamber orchestra, El Cimarrón Ensemble – to be performed in July 2023 during the Mahler Music Weeks festival in Dobbiaco, Italy
2022 Best Artistic Concept Award for LUMIÈRE at the 9º Super OFF – Festival Internacional de Cinema Super 8, São Paulo, Brazil
Official Selection at the Super 8 International Film Festival in Curitiba 17th edition
2021 Prix special Fondation Aletheia winner: L’ordre ne tient qu’à un fil – dance choreography by Nora Mondada, music by Anna Dobrucka. Geneva, Switzerland
2017 Special Award for Composition – with Magdalena Krakowska for song Insurekcja – International Kosciuszko Bicentenary Competition Kosciuszko Heritage. Sydney, Australia
2011 Best Student Of The Year Award University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
2010 Best Student Of The Year Award University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
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EXHIBITIONS PROJECTS COMMISSIONS
2024
- Marco Polo Opera in Shanghai, China – November
- Premiere of Solstice (2024) for ensemble on June 22nd at the VENICE ART NIGHT
- Marco Polo: New Opera premiere on April 18th, produced and commissioned by the Teatro La Fenice in Venice in collaboration with the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello and Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia
- Premiere of Your face dissolving in pastel colours (2024) for choir- site specific composition at the Palazzo Pisani in Venice – June 21st
- In Fuga (2020) performed on April 9th by Aleksandra Hałat and Julia Miller at the Gaulitana Festival 2024 in Malta
- Premiere of Celadon: secondo studio (2024) for flute, cello and live electronics – June 12th, Palazzo Pisani, Venice
- Premiere of the music video for Indigo Street by The Whale Project shot by Ruggero Romano, in the studio of celebrated Italian painter Alberto La Tassa
2023
- CENTO DI QUESTI GYÖRGY! – festival/hommage a Ligeti in Palazzo Pisani in Venice: Premiere of Le tableu revisité (2023) for piano solo. Performed by Michelangelo D’Adamo
- Florence Biennale – Installation The Unbearable Lightness – sound design and composition
- Venice Art Night – concert with generative art visuals, organ, piano and live electronics with The Whale Project
- Premiere of Pur ti miro (2023) on April, 18th at the Commute Festival in Tallin, Estonia
- Bright Festival Florence – sound design and music production for a video installation THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
- The Ethics of Ambiguity (2023), premiered in Zürich, Switzerland on June 6th, performed by Kinga Wojdalska
- Premiere of compositions for bass voice and ensemble The mind is its own place (2022) and for alto voice and organ Co do Gwiazd (2022) at the Festival Camino Contro Corrente XIV in Friuli, IT
- Mutual feelings – project in collaboration with cellist Francesco Dillon and flutist Manuel Zurria
- Premiere of What the animals tell me (2023) on July, 25 at the Festival Gustav Mahler Musikwochen in Toblach, Italy
- Venice Overdose– short film by the Albanian video artist and poet Eni Derhemi: composition and performance of music for the production
- Thesis written in Italian on Musical Recomposition presented at the Venice Conservatory Benedetto Marcello
2022
- Biennale Musica – participation in the project of Helena Tulve Visiones – Venice, Italy
- Premiere of Le Pietre di Venezia (2022) for two organs and fixed media at the Palazzo Pisani on June 9th, Venice, Italy
- Film Cielo Aperto by Ruggero Romano: composition of music for the Kaba scene
- Singer (contralto voice) with the Capella Marciana at San Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Italy
- Music written for ensemble accompanying the stories by writer Gemma Moldi in hommage a E.T.A. Hoffmann performed in Ateneo Veneto by the students of Liceo Musicale di Venezia
- Perfect Solitude by Yulia Velems: Soundscape for the 3d video artwork with the latest innovations, photogrammetry, 3d modelling, digital jewelerry. Milan, Italy and Berlin, Germany.
- Exhibition The Architecture of inner space, South Side Festival, Melbourne, Australia – collaboration with Australian artist Agata Mayes. A vibrant art installation where a sculptural form built from a baby grand piano acts as a canvas for a video projection. By emphasising its exposed, internal parts, the artist suggests emotions, thoughts, fleeting memories as if it has become a living entity. A multilayered soundscape by Anna Dobrucka compounds all elements and adds another sensory dimension to the space.
2021
- Creation of music for the choreography L’ordre ne tient qu’à un fil, Geneva, Switzerland – collaboration with Geneva dancers Nora Mondada and Fabien Chevalley.
- Exhibition The Essence – Cube Gallery, Frankston Art Centre, Australia An immersive and alluring installation that offers a unique, sensorial experience by combining soundscape, sculpture, video and photography, exploring the subject of consciousness by challenging our views on reality and the origin of the universe. Artist: Agata Mayes Music: Ana Dobrucka
- Silent full feature film The Wind – creating prepared improvisation for the projection of the 1928 silent film directed by Victor Sjöström. The work was shared with pianist Pierre Mancinelli. Live performance took place in Reims, France on September 30th at the festival Les Concerts de Poche
2020
- Contemporary music XII Festival Camino Contro Corrente, Italy – premiere of the piece “In Fuga” by the Jost Costa Duo
- Contemporary music/oriental fusion Anna Dobrucka (Massetti) Piano + Tempo Rubato, Melbourne, Australia – concert of Ania’s compositions written in years 2016-2020 for piano, koto, koto duo, erhu, violin, double bass, cello; Collaboration with artists from China, Malaysia and Australia
2019
- Exhibition/installation Fresh 19 Yarra Sculpture Gallery, Melbourne, Australia – Project ORIGINS with visual artist and photographer – Agata Mayes. Soundscape by Anna Dobrucka
2016-2018
- Music group 3 Laetare, collaboration with Magdalena Żuk Krakowska – vocal, lyrics; Katarzyna Rząsa– vocal, lyrics; Anna Dobrucka– composition, piano; performing in Australia in venues such as the Deakin Edge Theatre or the Melbourne Arts Centre
2013-2014 Ballet Accompanist Cracow Opera House Ballet Studio – accompaniment and creation of music for ballet practice
OTHER ACTIVITIES
2024
- Global Manager of the Amadeus – Polish Radio Chamber Orchestra
- Camino Contro Corrente Contemporary Music Fesival, Friuli, IT – co-organisation of the festival
- Krzyzowa Music Festival – providing assistance with concert organisation
2023 – 2024
PRODUCTION OFFICE, Conservatory of Music Benedetto Marcello of Venice
-responsible for organizing concerts and events, overseeing event execution
-handling documentation work in the archives of Palazzo Pisani
-preparation of promotional documents
2022 – 2023
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OFFICE, Conservatory of Music Benedetto Marcello of Venice
–managing contacts with international music institutions and providing guidance to exchange students
2016-2020
European Piano School, Melbourne, Australia – business owner
– new business development and management, finding new clients
– financial accounting
– communicating with adults and youth from diverse cultural and social backgrounds
2017-2019
GUEST LECTURER (Dalcroze method, music education, improvisation) Dalcroze Australia
-giving lectures and running workshops at music conferences and at universities in Australia and South-East Asia
-producing teaching materials, developing courses and methodologies
-creating assignments, assessing activities and progress
2019 Sydney Dalcroze Enrichment Days Peter Adams Music School, Sydney, Australia
Dalcroze Eurhythmics International Conference for Music Teachers John Curtin College of the Arts, Perth, Australia
2018 Dalcroze International Festival – British School of Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Workshop for Music Teachers: Composition & Dalcroze method Pandan Valley Lounge, Singapore
Dalcroze Eurhythmics International Conference for Music Teachers John Curtin College of the Arts, Perth, Australia
2017 Introduction to Dalcroze Eurhythmics – Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne, Australia
Discover Dalcroze: Workshop for Music Teachers (Improvisation, Ear & Voice Training, Movement) Carey Baptist Grammar School, Melbourne, Australia
2014 -2015
Research Assistant on Euro – Atlantic Relations University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal
– conducting research and summarizing findings
– scheduling and conducting interviews
– translating documents
2012 – 2013
International Press intern Assamblea Nacional Catalana, Barcelona, Spain
-working with the former president of the Catalan Parliament, Carme Forcadell, helping organize and coordinate large scale events like Catalan Way 2014
-Interpreting live during the official visits of foreign deputies and guests
-organising meetings and interviews with the catalan, spanish and international press
-writing and sending press releases, designing event invitations
-answering phones, coordinating visits and assisting guests at the ANC – multicultural interaction
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PRESS
IT
2024 Quotidiano Nazionale – Opera Marco Polo
2024 Giornale della Musica – Opera Marco Polo
2020 Festival Camino Contro Corrente In Sicurezza – FRIULI OGGI
2020 Camino Contro Corrente In_sicurezza – IlFriuli.it
EN
FR
2020 Récital en live stream Duo Jost Costa
PL
2020 Wywiad SBS Radio Polish AUSTRALIA – Anna Dobrucka Massetti Piano +
ABOUT
What is Ania’s musical dream and reality? Listening to film scores brought her to the piano to explore how music can navigate us through a story. Observing how a melody is an interpretation of feelings boosted her talent for capturing people’s vibes, the undercurrent of who they are, and to translate it into musical pieces, unparalleled record of them. Meeting people, being in nature, exposing herself to be stirred, she then channels to musical expression. What comes to her when Ania sits by the instrument, originates in most natural moments of feeling what is it like to be somewhere, to be with someone, to be part of a unique situation.
Still, the ultimate place of creativity is located elsewhere on Ania’s map. Wandering off the solid ground, drawing nearer to the ocean and passing through the surface of water, she finds that critical intermission, a crossing of the barrier between the noises of life and the silence. A submersion that instantly washes down all the sounds we are exposed to and can hardly escape, and places us in a vacuum. Deep down that marvelous abyss, we find most curious yet natural things: peace, rest and brand-new space for our mind to spontaneously fill it – by the force of it’s innate impulse to create. What with? “What can you hear when you listen to the silence?” Ania is about to answer for herself with her new project.
Retracing the steps she has taken so far will be a rather long but positively high-octane ride. Fifteen years of classical and not so classical schooling; ten years of experience in teaching piano; ten years of traveling and living in numerous countries; countless occasions to get to know the music and its workings from uncountable perspectives. Ania and game-changing decisions are indeed best mates and her story reveals the ultimate goal that drives these decisions: to get every opportunity to be present in this world and to reach it; for Ania the best way to connect with it is music: creating, playing, re-forming and sharing it.
Directing herself regularly straight through the most steep passages in life and never avoiding but seeking the exposure to the sways and strikes of engaging with people, Ania has cultivated a whole new kind of sensibility. The one that naturally and genuinely embraces and acclaims human experience. And she exercised a way of encapsulating and transfusing the tonality of that experience in her music. A musician-voyager, a risk-taker in daily life, in her approach to people a ground-breaker and many times a transformer of them. Ceaselessly in motion, chances are, Ania is on her way to meet you, too.
Written by Miriam Kochan