Zbigniew Karkowski

Composer and performer of contemporary music. Was born in Krakow, Poland, but emigrated as a teenager, and afterwards lived in, among others Gothenburg, Sweden; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Berlin, Germany; Paris, France; Los Angeles, USA; and Tokyo, Japan. He studied music and composition for many different teachers and composers in Poland, Sweden, France and Netherlands. From today's perspective he considers that the only teacher who taught him something real was Iannis Xenakis. Karkowski has presented his work in more than 30 countries on nearly all continents.

From today's perspective he considers that the only teacher who taught him something real was Iannis Xenakis. Karkowski has presented his work in more than 30 countries on nearly all continents. He is convinced that it is a responsibility of an artist in present time to travel and move and work around the World in order to learn and understand different cultures and traditions and discover truth about us and our planet.

He also strongly believes that geographical, political and social exile is a necessary condition for true creation, and true creation is the only act that really matters. Since 1994 he is based in Tokyo - Japan where he collaborates closely with Japanese underground noise and experimental artists.

He is not interested in a traditional definition of what is music; in his opinion all theory and systems of music as cultural concepts have to be destroyed. So in his latest work his main concern is on realizing drama with electronic sound and acoustic walls with scores based on architectures of ruins.