About
Krzysztof Wolek is a composer, electronic music performer, concert organizer and teacher. He is a passionate advocate of contemporary acoustic and electronic music and multimedia compositions. His interdisciplinary/collaboration interests resulted in annual concerts organized under his supervision and in collaborative works with dancers and visual artists. Krzysztof graduated with a PhD in composition and computer music from the University of Chicago.
He taught composition, electronic music and theory at the college level at the Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland, Columbia College Chicago and the University of Chicago. In August 2008, he began to work as an Assistant Professor of Music Composition and Director of Digital Composition Studies at the University of Louisville. Krzysztof also serves on the jury of the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition and is a Programming Committee Member of the Warsaw Autumn Festival.
His pieces were performed at international festivals such as the Warsaw Autumn Festival 2009, University of Louisville New Music Festival 2009, SEAMUS 2009 National Conference, Fort Wayne, SCI National Conference 2009, Santa Fe, SPARK Festival, Minneapolis, the Warsaw Autumn Festival 2008, the International Computer Music Conference 2008 in Belfast, Ireland, the Warsaw Autumn Festival 2007, the Audio Art Festival 2007 in Krakow, Poland, the International Computer Music Conference 2007 in Copenhagen, Denmark, the SEAMUS National Conference at Ames, 2006 the International Computer Music Conference in New Orleans, 2006, the XIII Annual International Contemporary Dance Conference 2006 in Bytom, Poland, Musica Polonica Nova 2006 in Wroclaw, Poland, Intermedium III and IV, the International Sound Engineering Conference in Krakow, 2005, the ISCM World Music Days 2005 in Zagreb, Croatia, among others. Krzysztof is a board member of the Fire Wire Ensemble, as well as a member of the Society of Composers, SEAMUS, the International Computer Music Association as well as ASCAP and ZAiKS. He received commissions from the Warsaw Autumn Festival, the Siemens Foundation, SCI/ASCAP as well as awards and grants including, among others, the ChicagoArts Grant from the University of Chicago Arts Planning Council, 2006, and the first prize for Mobile Variations at the Concours Internationaux de Musique et d'Art Sonore Electroacoustiques- Bourges - 2007.
Krzysztof began his composition studies at the Music Academy in Katowice, Poland. After receiving his M.A., he moved to the Hague, Holland, to study with Louis Andriessen. He developed an interest in electronic and multimedia works while attending courses for young composers, which were organized in collaboration with studio STEIM and IRCAM. Krzysztof moved to the United States in 2001 and entered the PhD program in composition and computer music at the University of Chicago, where, after one year, he became the Computer Music Studio Manager. His primary teachers included Edward Boguslawski, Louis Andriessen, Marta Ptaszynska, Shulamit Ran and Howard Sandroff.
He lives in Louisville with his long-time wife and fellow electro-acoustic/multi-media composer, Allison Ogden and a wannabe plumber and full time drain inspector, the ever-loquacious cat, Arya. He loves good company, outdoor sports, hiking and climbing.