Photog. Wiesław Szymański
Rafał Grząka
RAFAŁ GRZĄKA — The most versatile Polish accordionist and bandoneonist.
His concert, teaching, and scientific activity covers contemporary, classical, jazz, ethnic, klezmer, and broadly understood improvised music.
Favourably reviewed, his creations have been widely appreciated. The artist has not only been awarded 35 times at Polish and international accordion competitions, but also received 5 Fryderyk Award nominations.
Rafał Grząka is a renowned interpreter of contemporary music, with over 40 premieres of solo, chamber, and orchestral compositions dedicated to him. He is also the first to record Polish concertos for bandoneon and orchestra (R. Janiak, Reminescences of Past & N. Kołodziejczyk, Black Playground: from the album Reminescences of dark streams).
As a soloist, he has performed with the most important symphony orchestras in Poland, including the National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Polish Radio Orchestra, and the Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy AUKSO.
Actively involved in chamber music, the artist co-creates one of Poland’s most famous klezmer ensembles, Klezmafour. The group recorded three albums and had a world tour across Europe, Asia, Canada, the USA. He performes along with Klaudiusz Baran, Tomasz Strahl, Paweł Gusnar, Pablo Mainetti, and Atom String Quartet.
Rafał Grząka has recorded many film soundtracks for the Polish Radio and Television Stations, both as a session musician and as managing composer of big artistic projects.
In 2022, he received a Creative Scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage to develop a comprehensive teaching method for improvisation on the button accordion.
Currently, Rafał Grząka teaches classical, jazz, and WRLD music accordion at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, where he works as the Vice-Dean of the Instrumental Faculty and Head of the Accordion Department. In 2023, he received the Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture Gloria Artis.
