hashtag ensemble
Although each of the mentioned pieces is freely available on the Internet, a virtual listening experience is evidently inferior to a live concert by Hashtag Ensemble. There was truly a mastery to their performance. Given that they’re a considerably young ensemble, one should hope that they won’t rest on their laurels and that composers will thus have someone to write for.
(Filip Lech, culture.pl)
Contemporary music is a sort of a utopia, a kind of longing for “more” – it demonstrates a certain set of values. That notion is shown in Louis Andriessen’s “Workers Union” (performed ravishingly, almost perfectly by the band – and without a conductor!).
(Adam Suprynowicz, Polskie Radio)
What can surely be written without worrying about any spoilers is that Hashtag Ensemble has, once again, proven itself to be not only a collective of remarkable performers, but also a band with a certain concept of itself; a band who wants to experiment far beyond conventional concerts.
(Krzysztof Stefański, Glissando)
Hashtag Ensemble is a music cooperative founded by flutist Anna Karpowicz in 2013, which consists of eighteen musicians and is led by a creative group. Hashtag Ensemble specializes in contemporary music performance, improvisation and art education. The Hashtag Ensemble regularly performs at Polish and international new music festivals, and has produced dozens of repertory and improvised concerts, chamber operas and seven studio albums. The ensemble actively collaborates with composers in Poland and abroad, dedicating much of its activity to the artistic achievements of women.
We participate in the discussion about where the world and modern humanity are heading. The Hashtag Ensemble designs concerts set in accessible, usually non-musical contexts. Narrative programming engages audiences and reaches a wide range of listeners, going far beyond music amateurs and experts. The search for new forms of presenting new music leads the ensemble to non-obvious places, where the concert situation becomes as important as the artistic interpretation of the chosen repertoire.
We popularize and demythologize contemporary music. The Hashtag Ensemble has been committed to cultural and artistic education since its founding: it carries out original music projects for children and young people, conducts courses and mentoring programs for outstanding performers, and presents works by the youngest generation of composers at national and international composition competitions.
We are setting new standards in running cultural institutions by practicing egalitarianism and social responsibility of the arts. In 2023, thanks to the support of the City of Warsaw, the group opened the first and only permanent stage for new music in Poland: Hashtag Lab Contemporary Music Space. In a modernist villa at 29 Barska Street in Warsaw, Hashtag Ensemble performs concerts, plays, performances, as well as composition workshops, educational programs, exhibitions and installations. Hashtag Lab is a meeting place for artists and composers, a space for debates, seminars and conferences.
We create opportunities to meet and invite collaboration, we play fair. For years, Hashtag Ensemble has been supporting the deepening of relationships in the contemporary music community, organizing, among others, the #PlayFair campaign. The ensemble is eager to share its experience in running cooperatives and cultural institutions on a democratic basis with partners in Poland and Europe. Members of the creative group establish collaborations with new music ensembles abroad, participate in conferences, panel discussions and social actions. Hashtag Ensemble is the initiator of the New Music Guild in Poland.
Hashtag Ensemble consists of:
Ania Karpowicz – flute, piccolo, alto flute
Adam Eljasiński – clarinet, basklarnet
Oliwier Andruszczenko – EWI, duduk, clarinet, Es
Paweł Janas – accordion, electronic accordion
Wojciech Błażejczyk – electric guitar, bass guitar
Krzysztof Kozłowski – piano, synthesizers
Marta Grzywacz – voice
Maciej Nerkowski – baritone
Kamil Staniczek / Kamila Wąsik-Janiak – violin
Agnieszka Guz / Marta Piórkowska – violin
Aleksandra Demowska-Madejska – viola
Dominik Płociński – cello
Mateusz Loska – double bass
Magda Kordylasińska-Pękala – drums
Lilianna Krych – conductor
#ensemble
Hashtag Ensemble # a musical cooperative specializing in the performance of contemporary music, improvisation and artistic education, founded by flautist Ania Karpowicz in 2013. The group consists of twenty outstanding Polish musicians. The cooperative has no leader and its work is coordinated by a creative team.
The activity of Hashtag Ensemble is based on building programs based on clear, usually non-musical contexts. An important element of the ensemble’s concert practice is to support and present the artistic achievements of women, which from the beginning of the ensemble’s existence has been reflected in cooperation with composers and artists.
Concerts in the backyards of Warsaw tenement houses (as part of the Warszemuzik festival) or on the street are the foundation for Hashtag Ensemble’s roots in local and integration with small communities.
The group accepts invitations from Polish and foreign festivals and music institutions such as: Warsaw Autumn, Sacrum Profanum, Intersonanzen, Sinfonia Varsovia, POLIN Music Festival, Tallin Afekt Festival, Poznań Music Spring, Musica Electronica Nova, Musical Gardens, Warsaw Music Meetings and others.
The cooperative is committed to promoting the achievements of young composers by performing the compositions of the winners of composers’ competitions: Tadeusz Baird, the Composers’ Competition Zygmunt Mycielski or the International Composers’ Competition Kazimierz Serocki.
An important area of Hashtag Ensemble’s activity is improvisation, which is reflected in four improvisational strands: # archi-solos are musical interpretations of Krakow’s architecture, urbcore are closed improvisational forms for urban photographic scores, “#WITKACY” (Requiem Records, Opus Series, 2018) are musical interpretations of photographic self-portraits of Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, while “Visegrad Songs” (Requiem Records, Opus Series, 2016) are reinterpretations of motifs taken from 19th-century classical music.
Hashtag Ensemble’s repertoire records are “Openings of the (eye)” (Bôłt Records, 2020) – the world’s first phonographic monograph of the composer Lucia Dlugoszewski, “First Command” (DUX, 2019) – Adam Porębski’s electro-acoustic suite to the prose of Joseph Conrad, “Trash Music ”(Requiem Records, Opus Series, 2018) – a study of Wojciech Błażejczyk’s work and #NetworkMusic – a record of the band’s development and research from 2013-2017.
Hashtag Ensemble is committed to cultural and artistic education. In 2016-2018, the ensemble carried out a series of educational concerts with contemporary music at the Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, as part of the Smykowizje project. In 2017 alone, the group played 34 concerts for over 1,000 families, presenting songs including G. Crumb, L. Andriessen, A. Schoenberg, or K. Penderecki, and many young Polish composers. Hashtag Ensemble also organizes master classes for composers (e.g. in cooperation with CEME festival, Israel 2020) and performers (e.g. during Afekt festival, Estonia 2018).
The cooperative initiates and moderates partnerships with new music ensembles in Poland and Europe (Riot Ensemble, Meitar Ensemble, NeoQuartet, Spółdzielnia Muzyczna) and supports the deepening of relationships in the contemporary music environment – both musical and institutional.
Hashtag Ensemble consists of:
Ania Karpowicz – flute, piccolo, alto flute
Adam Eljasiński – clarinet, basklarnet
Oliver Andrushchenko – EWI, duduk, clarinet, Es
Wojciech Psiuk – saxophones
Paweł Janas – accordion, electronic accordion
Wojciech Błażejczyk – electric guitar, bass guitar
Krzysztof Kozłowski – piano, synthesizers
Dariusz Przybylski – Hammond organ
Marta Grzywacz – voice
Maciej Nerkowski – baritone
Kamil Staniczek / Kamila Wąsik-Janiak – violin
Agnieszka Guz / Marta Piórkowska – violin
Aleksandra Demowska-Madejska – viola
Dominik Płociński – cello
Mateusz Loska – double bass
Magda Kordylasińska-Pękala – drums
Lilianna Krych – conductor
Płyty repertuarowe Hashtag Ensemble to „Openings of the (eye)” (Bôłt Records, 2020) – pierwsza na świecie fonograficzna monografia kompozytorki Lucii Dlugoszewski, „First Command” (DUX, 2019) – elektroakustyczna suita Adama Porębskiego do prozy Josepha Conrada, „Trash Music” (Requiem Records, Opus Series, 2018) – studium twórczości Wojciecha Błażejczyka oraz #NetworkMusic – zapis rozwoju i poszukiwań zespołu z lat 2013-2017.
Hashtag Ensemble angażuje się w edukację kuturalną i artystyczną. W latach 2016-2018 zespół realizował cykl edukacyjnych koncertów z muzyką współczesną w Centrum Sztuki Współczesnej Zamek Ujazdowski w Warszawie, w ramach projektu Smykowizje. Tylko w roku 2017 grupa zagrała 34 koncerty dla ponad 1000 rodzin prezentując utwory m.in. G. Crumba, L. Andriessena, A. Schoenberga, czy K. Pendereckiego oraz wielu młodych kompozytorów polskich. Hashtag Ensemble realizuje także kursy mistrzowskie dla kompozytorów (m.in. we współpracy z CEME festival, Izrael 2020) oraz artystów wykonawców (m.in. podczas Afekt festival, Estonia 2018).
Kooperatywa inicjuje i moderuje partnerskie współprace z zespołami muzyki nowej w Polsce i w Europie (Riot Ensemble, Meitar Ensemble, NeoQuartet, Spółdzielnia Muzyczna) oraz wspiera pogłębianie relacji w środowisku muzyki współczesnej – zarówno tych muzycznych, jak i instytucjonalnych.
Hashtag Ensemble tworzą:
Ania Karpowicz – flet, piccolo, flet altowy
Adam Eljasiński – klarnet, basklarnet
Oliwier Andruszczenko – EWI, duduk, klarnet Es
Wojciech Psiuk – saksofony
Paweł Janas – akordeon, akordeon elektroniczny
Wojciech Błażejczyk – gitara elektryczna, gitara basowa
Krzysztof Kozłowski – fortepian, syntezatory
Dariusz Przybylski – organy Hammonda
Marta Grzywacz – głos
Maciej Nerkowski – baryton
Kamil Staniczek / Kamila Wąsik-Janiak – skrzypce
Agnieszka Guz / Marta Piórkowska – skrzypce
Aleksandra Demowska-Madejska – altówka
Dominik Płociński – wiolonczela
Mateusz Loska – kontrabas
Magda Kordylasińska-Pękala – perkusja
Lilianna Krych – dyrygentka
