Sebastian Zawadzki is a talented pianist, composer, and producer who was born in Poland but has been living in Denmark since 2010. As a member of the younger generation of artists, he is highly productive. At the age of 19, he was admitted to the Syddansk Musikkonservatorium in Odense, where he studied piano. He also studied at conservatories in Kraków (Poland) and the Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium in Copenhagen. Additionally, he participated in the ASCAP Film Scoring workshop with Richard Bellis in Los Angeles before returning to Syddansk Musikkonservatorium in Odense as a soloist.
After completing music academies and courses in Denmark, Poland, and the United States, Sebastian decided to settle in Denmark, where he began recording his own music.
Sebastian is a sought-after sideman on the vibrant jazz scene in Copenhagen and has toured and recorded in many countries. He has released several albums under his own name and as a sideman.
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Sebastian's first album, Between the Dusk of a Summer Night (2018), was a minimalist and spatial work that was performed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and soloists. This album was Sebastian’s introduction to contemporary classical and minimalism.
A few months later, Sebastian recorded Piano Works Vol.1 (2018) in a studio in Copenhagen, where he explored the possibilities of the grand piano, improvisation and preparation. He followed this up with Norn (2018), a soundscape for string quartet, synthesizers, and piano.
In 2019, Sebastian released Piano Works Vol.2, a milestone in his discography. It was recorded on an old upright piano based in Royal Academy in Copenhagen - in their stunning concert hall, as well as on the grand piano, and it’s one of the most popular works by Sebastian on Spotify, with the first song reaching almost three million streams.
Sebastian continued to explore new musical avenues with his next album, Songs about Time, which merges voice, piano, and string quartet into a beautiful, peaceful palette of sounds, slowly evolving throughout the time. He also released Entropy, one of his most popular songs on Youtube.
In 2021, Sebastian released Far Away, a single made for a jazz trio, that gained also almost three million streams on streaming services.
Sebastian's latest releases, Viridian (2022) and Altair (2022), mark a new chapter in his musical journey. Viridian is a series of melodic improvised solo piano pieces, recorded in Tall Pine Records in Kolbudy, Poland, while Altair is a long-playing album for a symphony orchestra, mallets, and piano.
Apart from recording albums, Sebastian is an active touring artist, having played concerts with his music around the world, including in Poland, Denmark, Sweden, the United States, Kazakhstan, Germany, and Italy. His live performances, such as Sebastian Zawadzki - FORTE ARTUS FESTIVAL | Full Performance (ToruÅ„, 2017) with a small orchestra performing his compositions, and Sebastian Zawadzki Trio “Better Light” - Live from Metronomen (Copenhagen, 2021), are a testament to his vision for blending classical music, improvisation and jazz.
In addition to his album releases, Sebastian also created a live video show Live in Astana, a beautiful performance with a string orchestra, woodwings and double bass, that features Sebastian's original compositions.
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Throughout his career, Sebastian has had the pleasure of performing with a number of acclaimed artists on stage, including Simon Thorsen, Larry Grenadier, Jordan Jackson, Marcin Wasilewski, Grzech Piotrowski, Maciej Kitajewski, Klanglys, Ole Kock Hansen, and many more. His extensive educational background and extensive experience as a performer and recording artist have allowed him to develop a unique voice as a pianist, composer, and producer, and succesfully work and estabilish his own recording studio in Copenhagen.
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Aside from his work as a pianist, Sebastian is also an accomplished film composer. One of his greatest achievements is the creation of music for the film Cent'anni, which original soundtrack made by Sebastian was awarded at Cannes Festival. This project, co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, won the Docs-in-Progress Award at the Cannes Film Fair. Directed by Maja Prelog, Cent'anni is a Slovenian-Italian-Polish production that showcases Sebastian's talent for crafting memorable and moving musical scores.
He also honed his craft under the tutelage of Oscar winner Jan A.P. Kaczmarek. With Kaczmarek, he fully orchestrated his work ”Symfonia bez KoÅ„ca” and created orchestrations for few film productions with Jan. In addition, Sebastian also worked as an orchestrator for the esteemed Danish Orchestra, Copenhagen Phil, where he regularly wrote orchestrations as part of the 60 Minutes festival. He also collaborated with renowned film composer Bartosz Chajdecki, recording piano for several popular Polish films, among others Chce siÄ™ Å»yć and "Bogowie".
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Sebastian's Awards and Honors:
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DJBFA Danish grant recipient for the album "Norn," 2018
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DJBFA Danish grant recipient for the album "Between the Dusk of a Summer Night," 2017
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Art Scholarship granted by Voivodship Marshal in Torun (Poland), 2010-2015
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Selected as one of 12 participants in "ASCAP Film Scoring Workshops 2016 with Richard Bellis" in Los Angeles, 2016
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First prize winner in the Transatlantyk Film Festival contest "Instant Composition" in Lodz, 2016
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Composer of the bassoon concerto performed by soloist Leszek Wachnik and Orchestra at Festiwal Muzyki Polskiej in Warsaw, 2016
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Screened at Cannes Film Festival 2016, the movie "Nu vandrer livet" featured original score by Sebastian
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Second award received for the concerto for violin and string orchestra at the composition contest during II Violin International Festival in Torun (Poland)
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Grand Prix winner with his ensemble Jazzpocalypse at the ”European Jazz Contest” in Rome, with an individual prize for piano skills for Sebastian Zawadzki
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Scholarship recipient for recording the CD of Tone Raw, awarded at the "Jazzowy debiut Fonograficzny 2012" contest organized by IMIT (Instytut Muzyki i Tanca)
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Second Individual Prize at Tarnow Jazz Contest in the solo category without age limit
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Individual Prize winner at Jazz Juniors 2011 in Krakow
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Second Prize at Przeglad Mlodych Zespolow Jazzowych in Gdynia
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Grand Prix winner at Novum Jazz Jazz Festival 2011
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Special Prize winner at Novum Jazz Jazz Festival 2009