Hania Derej - NOSPR

Composer, pianist, conductor. She is a student at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (jazz composition and arrangement) and the Music Academy in Cracow (symphonic conducting). She is the author of more than 130 compositions, some of which have been recorded on 9 CDs, including at the recording studio of the Polish Radio in Katowice. Hania creates music in various styles, including jazz, illustrative, chamber and electronic music.

Hania’s music stimulates the imagination, is characterized by melodiousness and carries an emotional message. Hania is the recipient of many awards, including the nomination for the “Coryphaeus of Polish Music” award in the category “Discovery of the Year”, Double Grand Prix of the Ladies’ Jazz Festival 2025 in Gdynia (from the Jury and the audience), Main Prize in the plebiscite of representatives of the Polish music scene “Sanki” 2025 of “Gazeta Wyborcza” newspaper (the new hope of the polish music scene), the Main Prize of the first “Jazz Talents” competition within the 21st edition of JazzSpring Zakopane 2025, Triton Award for the greatest artistic personality of the 54th edition of FAMA Festival 2024 in Świnoujście (Poland), a special award for compositions and arrangements at the Junior Jazz Festival 2023 in Wadowice (Poland), and the “Young Composer 2023” award funded by the Polish Composers’ Union in Warsaw during the International Piano Forum in Sanok (Poland).

Within this Piano Forum, Hania also received piano awards, such as an distinction for the performance of a concert with the National Polish Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra and a concert with the Lviv Chamber Orchestra “Akademy.”  Hania is a scholarship recipient from, among others, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for outstanding achievements (2025/2026), the Rafał Brzoska Foundation and the Marti Keuning Eckhardt Foundation. As a conductor, Hania has had the opportunity to lead concerts with the National Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra (Poland), Elblag Chamber Orchestra (Poland), Lviv Chamber Orchestra “Akademia” (Ukraine) and the Moravian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra (Czech Republic), among others. Hania also participates in international music projects and conferences in Europe, such as European FAMES Orchestra (Macedonia), The Playground Residence (Germany, Netherlands), Sync Camp (Poland), International Jazz Platform (Netherlands, Norway, Poland), Music Export Academy in Poland, Global Conservatory and Eastern European Music Export Academy (Ukraine), “Iceland Airways networking mission”, ESNS Showcase Festival & Conference  (Netherlands) and Jazzahead 2025 (Germany).

In the JAZZTOP2024 music critics’ survey of the international magazine JAZZFORUM, Hania Derej won first place in the “New Hope” category and fifth place in the “New Hope – Ensemble” category as the Hania Derej Quintet. In April 2025, Hania was awarded a distinction in the nationwide “Young Promoter of Poland” Contest, under the Honorary Patronage of the Wife of the President of the Republic of Poland, for young Poles whose activities contribute to the popularization of knowledge about Poland and building a positive image of Poland in the world. In May 2025 Hania received the award of the new hope of the Polish music scene.