Rafał Ryterski

Composer, activist, interdisciplinary artist, curator. Born in 1992 in Gdynia. The synthesis of different musical genres is a characteristic feature of his work, called by himself genrebending. Over the past few years, this artist has also eagerly ventured beyond the conventions of music itself, creating interdisciplinary works at the intersection of performance and theater. His art thematically revolves around the concept of identity, cultural phenomena specific to the LGBTQ+ community, and the exposure of violent mechanisms. In 2021 he was nominated for a Polityka’s Passport prize in the ‘Classical music’ category, for introducing the LGBTQ+ themes to polish contemporary music. He graduated in composition with the multimedia specialty at The Chopin University of Music (2017) and in classical composition at The Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. His music can be heard in concert halls as well as clubs. He has released two albums to date: Tears are the Diamonds of the Soul (BAS, 2021) and Gaymers’ Cheatsheet (Pointless Geometry, 2022). Additionally, he creates theatrical music and has collaborated with directors such as Kuba Kowalski, Marta Górnicka, among others. His music has been performed at festivals such as: Unsound (2019), Warsaw Autumn (2016-2022), Kody, Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music (2023). He also organizes and curates various musical and multimedia productions himself, such as the opera Anonymous, and Game Over (in collaboration with the Kwartludium ensemble and Teoniki Rożynek), We’re Here (in collaboration with Katarzyna Kalwat)–the first concert in Polish concert history focused exclusively on LGBTQ+ community figures.