Hanna Kulenty

After studying piano at the Karol Szymanowski School of Music in Warsaw from 1976 to 1980, Kulenty studied composition with Włodzimierz Kotoński at the Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw. From 1986 to 1988 she studied composition with Louis Andriessen at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. In 1984 and 1988 she participated in Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music. In 1983 and 1990 she was participant in the International Courses for Young Composers in Kazimierz, organised by the Polish section of the ISCM — where she attended lectures with Iannis Xenakis, Witold Lutosławski, Thomas Kessler and François-Bernard Mâche.

From 1989 Kulenty worked as a free-lance composer, and received numerous commissions and scholarships. She has composed 2 operas and 12 works for large orchestra. She has written numerous works for solo instruments and chamber groups. Since 2007 she is also involved in writing music for television plays and for film. In 1990 she was for one-year guest composer at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in Berlin. In 1998 she was invited as guest lecturer at three universities around Los Angeles. In 1999/2000 she was composer-in-residence with Het Gelders Orkest in the Netherlands. In November 2000 a portrait concert was organized by Deutschlandfunk in Cologne (released on the CD ‘Arcs & Circles’). She lectured at the Other Minds 10 festival (San Francisco) and at Soundstreams Canada 2005 in Toronto. In 2007 she was guest professor at the ESMUC, Music Academy in Barcelona. She was a jury member during Munich Biennale in 1995, during the Gaudeamus International Composers Award 2002 in Amsterdam, during the Kazimierz Serocki 9th International Composers’ Competition in Warsaw (2003), during the International New Chamber Opera Competition "Orpheus-Luciano Berio 2003–2004" in Spoleto, and in 2005 and 2007 during the International Competition of Contemporary Chamber Music in Cracow.

Kulenty's compositions have been premiered at festivals throughout the world, such as the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Munich Biennale, Warsaw Autumn, and Musica Polonica Nova. Her numerous orchestral pieces have been performed by symphony orchestras in the Netherlands (Radio Filharmonisch Orkest), Denmark (Danish National Symphony Orchestra), Poland, and Germany (Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin), with conductors such as David Porcelijn, Antoni Wit, Peter Hirsch, Peter Eötvös, Ingo Metzmacher, Renato Rivolta, and Ronald Zollman. Soloists such as Isabelle van Keulen, Elisabeth Chojnacka, Krzysztof Bąkowski, Marco Blaauw, and Frank Peters have performed her work, as have the Dutch ensemble De Ereprijs, who commissioned her to write pieces on several occasions. In 2008 the Kronos Quartet performed her String Quartet No. 4. Since the success of her opera The Mother of Black-Winged Dreams at the Munich Biennale 1996 she is considered "one of the leading figures on the Polish composers’ scene". Kulenty's compositions are published by Donemus (part of Music Center the Netherlands) in Amsterdam and by PWM Edition in Cracow.

Hoffmanniana (2003) – opera in two acts The Mother of Black-Winged Dreams (1995) – opera in one act Przypowieść o ziarnie [Parable on grain] (1985) – chamber opera / monodrama Island (2006) – stage work for trumpet solo, voice, ensemble and tape Lost & Found twenty-five (2008) – music-dance theater for ensemble and tape

Ad unum (1985) – symphony orchestra Breathe (1987) – chamber orchestra Certus (1997) – chamber orchestra Part One (1998) – symphony orchestra Passacaglia (1992) – chamber orchestra Piano Concerto No. 2 (1991) – piano, symphony orchestra Piano Concerto No. 3 (2003) – piano, symphony orchestra Quatro (1986) – chamber orchestra Trigon (1989) – chamber orchestra Sinequan Forte A (1994) – solo amplified cello with delay, symphony orchestra Sinequan Forte B (1994) solo amplified cello with delay, chamber orchestra Symphony No. 1 (1986) – symphony orchestra Symphony No. 2 (1987) – symphony orchestra, mixed choir Symphony No. 3 (2000) – symphony orchestra Trumpet Concerto (2002) – trumpet, symphony orchestra Violin Concerto No. 1 (1993) – violin, symphony orchestra Violin Concerto No. 2 (1996) – violin, symphony orchestra

A few minutes for Ereprijs (1992) – ensemble Air (1991) – ensemble Elfen (1997) – ballet music for ensemble Flute Concerto no. 1 (2001) – flute (amplified, delay) and chamber orchestra Going Up 2 (1995) – ensemble Mezzo Tango (2004) – brass band Mezzo Tango 2 (2005) – ensemble Piano Concerto No. 1 (1990) – piano, ensemble Perpetuus (1989) – ensemble Postcard from Europe (2004) – ensemble Violin Concerto No. 1 (1992) – violin, ensemble

Arcus (1988) – three percussionists aaa TRE (1988) – viola, cello, double bass A Cradle Song (1993) – violin, cello, piano A Fourth Circle (1994) – violin (or viola/cello) and piano A Sixth Circle (1995) – trumpet, piano Asjaawaa (2001) – mezzo-soprano, flute, harp, piano, percussion, electronics Blattinus (1996) – saxophone quartet Brass No. 2 (2005) – for horn and trumpet Cannon (1988) – violin, piano Crossing Lines (2001) – violin, clarinet, piano Decimo (2000) – for choir, six voices Going Up 1 (1995) – violin, double bass Kisses & Crosses (2007) – for piano and percussion Lysanxia (1994) – gamelan, tape MM-blues (1999) – two piano's and two percussions Preludium, Postludium and Psalm (2007) – for cello and accordion Quinto (1986) – two pianos Rainbow 3 (2003) – flute, bass clarinet, piano Rapidus (1998) – saxophone quartet Ride (1987) – six percussionists Run (2004) – flute and piano Sierra (1996) – violin, cello Stretto (1998) – flute, clarinet, cello, guitar String Quartet no. 1 (1984) String Quartet No. 2 (1990) String Quartet No. 3 – Tell me about it (2007) String Quartet No. 4 (A Cradle Song) (2007) Tap-Blow-Dance4* (2020) 2 bass clarinets, violoncello, vibraphone [12'] Sugar-Fela Tango (2009) – for piano and four instruments Tell me about it 1 (2006) – for clarinet, cello, trombone and piano Tell me about it 2 (2006) – for bass clarinet, cello, trombone and contra bas Waiting for… (1997) – voice, piano

Arci (1986) – percussion solo A Fifth Circle (1994) – alto flute with delay A Third Circle (1996) – piano solo Brass No. 1 (2004) – trumpet solo Brass No. 2 (2004) – horn and trumpet Brass No. 3 (2005) – horn solo or trumpet solo Brass No. 4 (2007) – tuba solo Cadenza (1992) – violin solo with delay Drive Blues (2000) – piano solo E for E (1991) – harpsichord solo Harmonium (1999) – harmonium solo One by One (1988) – marimba solo Preludium and Psalm (2007) – harmonium solo or another keyboard instrument Sesto (1985) – piano solo Sinequan (1993) – cello solo with optional delay Sinequan (rev. 1993) – cello solo with delay Still Life with a Cello (1993) – cello solo Still Life with a Violin (1985) – violin solo Three Minutes for the Double Bass (1983) – double bass solo

Prośba o Słońce [Request for the Sun] (1984) – electroacoustic tape Souvenir from a Sanatorium (1988) – computer music