Philip Czapłowski
is a Polish Australian composer
Born in London, his father Sykstus was born in Wilno, Poland (now part of Lithuania) to a peasant family in the village of Kijonij. Philip's mother Josephine Kiley was British, of Irish and Cornish extraction, born in Marylebone, London. In 1969 the Czapłowski family migrated to Australia.
After arriving in Melbourne, Philip studied piano with William L. (Bill) Lowe from 1970 to 1975, and composition with Felix Werder from 1975 to 1977.
"It was Felix Werder that introduced me to contemporary music, in particular the enormous contribution that Polish composers made during the 20th Century. Felix was a warm and generous soul who had a tendency to get up people's noses--but only if you deserved it!"
Czapłowski subsequently studied music at Melbourne and La Trobe Universities, where his composition teachers included Peter Tahourdin, Ted Dollarhide, and Keith Humble, as well as piano with Rodney Sigston. In 2007 Czapłowski completed a Doctorate (PhD) in music composition at Monash University (supervised by Thomas Reiner), during which time he also lectured in music theory. In 2005 Czapłowski also attended the Academy of Music in Kraków, Poland, where he worked with Marcel Chyrzyński, Zbigniew Bujarski, Krystyna Moszumañska-Nazar, Wojciech Widłak, and Anna Zawadska-Gołosz.
"Attending festivals and concerts in Poland was a real eye opener. I witnessed a creative interaction of styles that I recognised as a truly Postmodern approach.
This is somewhat different to recent developments in Australia, where composition has tended to become polarised between extreme Modernism or a pleasant, but ultimately shallow musical blancmange. These approaches do however share something, in that they tend to lack a willingness (or need) to engage with the wider world and the numerous problems that Australia and the world currently face."
Philip Czapłowski's compositions include the orchestral work Momentum, commissioned by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2000, four concertos for Australia Pro Arte (now the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra), and numerous chamber and solo compositions. His music has been performed and recorded around the world, and he is a represented artist in the collection of the Australian Music Centre and the National Library of Australia, Canberra. Czapłowski is a member, and former Treasurer of the Melbourne Composers' League.
"Another unfortunate development over recent years has been the development of the performer/"composer", i.e. performers who often have no training or capability to compose music, but have realised that since thay have a performance platform--why share it with a real composer?
Philip is married to Yan Yan, and they have a daughter Leah.
Performers of Philip Czapłowski's music include:
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Christchurch Symphony Orchestra
New York Miniaturist Ensemble
Orquestra Antunes Camara
Australia Pro Arte
Canberra Wind Soloists
Chamber Strings of Melbourne
Geelong Chamber Orchestra
Australian Chamber Soloists
Australia Felix
Monash Festival Orchestra
The Lorien Trio
Klaviduo
Hanna Balcerzak, Sauro Berti, Harry Sparnaay, Jeffrey Crellin, as well as many of Australia's leading musicians.
His music has featured regularly in international festivals, including:
Encuentros Festival Internacional (Brazil 1995)
International Double-Reed Society Conference (Arizona 1998)
Federation Music Week (Melbourne 2000)
Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music (Belfast 2003)
Szymanowski Festival 2003 (XXVI Dni Muzyki Karola Szymanowskiego, Poland)
International Double-Reed Society Conference (Melbourne 2004)
Melbourne International Festival of Single Reeds (2005)
Cortona Contemporary Music Festival (Tuscany, Italy 2006)
Karhonfest (Karhonsaari, Finland 2017)
7th European Clarinet Festival (Porto, Portugal 2017)
30th International Festival of Kraków Composers (Kraków, Poland 2018)
5th International Clarinet Festival (Lima, Peru 2019)
Elzbieta Chojnacka Festival (Tarnowskie Góry, Poland 2019)
Gorczycki Festiwal (Tarnowskie Góry, Poland 2020)
5th Seminar of Contemporary Harpsichord Music 'Cembalo no limits' (Łódź, Poland 2022)
2nd International Low Flutes Festival (USA 2022)
2nd Festiwal im. Elżbiety Chojnackiej (Tarnowskie Góry, Poland 2023)
and has been broadcast by:
RAI Italy
Polski Radio Katowice
ABC Classic FM
ABC TV
ABC Radio National
3MBS FM
Radio Adelaide
Southern FM
Many of the composer's scores are freely available to download in PDF format.
|
