Paulina Derska

Culture of Mobility 2020

Year of birth: 1989 Field: Music City: Island

Paulina Derska, a young composer born in Łódź, is a beneficiary of the summer call to the Culture of Mobility programme supporting artists and creators from Lower Silesia in Polnad.
Derska graduated from the I and II degree music school in the class of percussion and organ (diploma with honours) in Łódź, and then continued her education at the Academy of Music in Wrocław, in the class of Professor Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil. During her studies, she has achieved significant successes: she is a two-time finalist of the international Young Talent Award competition (2016 and 2017) in Krakow, winner of the Audience Award for India Film Müsic Competition 2020 and winner of Agata Zubel's and Michał Moc's compositional residency programme for Iceland in 2020. She is very active in the field of theatre composition. Performances with her music were qualified for international festivals such as: ShakespeareOFF and ProContra ('Ryszard III' dir. A. Tabisz); Sopot Theatrical Consequences (Il place) and Night of the Theatre on Facts at Grotowski Institute ('Hercia' dir. A. Tabisz); Pestka and Metaphors ('In a Hidden Barrel' dir. A. Wolszczak). Her works were performed in Poland, Spain and Italy. Bachelor's composition - the poem 'Hijo de la Luna' was chosen by the Rector of the Academy of Music for performance at the NFM under the baton of maestro Marek Pijarowski.

The musical project submitted to theCulture of Mobility programme concerned the support of the trip, the mentioned residence in Iceland. The idea of the project is to draw on the beauty of this country and its musical traditions in order to use impressions in later artistic activities. The place made available for the purposes of the residence is an ideal space for compositional work - a secluded house equipped with a piano, a rich collection of notes and a regional shallow-box. Paulina Derska also intends to draw musical inspiration from her lonely wanderings and admire the Icelandic landscapes, during which she was not exposed to people's gatherings and thus pandemically safe.