Grzech Piotrowski - World Orchestra feat. Ewa Bem, Hanna Banaszak, Ruth W.Meyer - NOSPR

GRZECH+ Concert is a musical journey of Grzech Piotrowski, featuring the special participation of two great stars of the Polish music scene — Ewa Bem and Hanna Banaszak, the outstanding Norwegian vocalist Ruth Wilhelmine Meyer, and singer-cellist Tamara Behler.

The programme will include saxophone mantras (solo), where Grzech Piotrowski paints soundscapes that spark the listener’s imagination, pieces from the World Orchestra repertoire with Ruth Wilhelmine Meyer, brand-new compositions created for Ewa Bem, and selected works by Hanna Banaszak arranged for string octet. The evening will also feature compositions from the debut album of singer and cellist Tamara Behler.

For over three decades, Grzech Piotrowski has been balancing on the edge of film, classical, jazz, ethnic, roots, and open improvisation music. A saxophonist, composer, and music producer, he creates projects filled with space, emotion, and magic, bringing together powerful artistic personalities and diverse musical temperaments.

In 2009, he founded the boundary-defying international project World Orchestra, uniting exceptional soloists — both vocalists and instrumentalists — from around the globe. The ensemble blends the roots of world music with symphonic orchestration, jazz, folklore, and film music, producing spectacular multicultural performances.

Alongside his orchestral ventures, Piotrowski has shaped his distinctive saxophone sound through solo concerts and smaller ensembles.
The year 2025 marks a summation of years of artistic collaborations — carefully selected “gems” brought together in the GRZECH+ project.

A few words from Grzech about…

Ewa Bem

“My collaboration with Ewa Bem began with a jazz-funk version of Hit The Road Jack (2008) for Borys Szyc’s album. Later, she joined the Alchemik Big Band (from 2021), followed by a concert re-production of her fantastic 1980s album Ewa Bem Loves The Beatles (2022). We now tour with this project as Ewa Bem & Grzech Piotrowski Band. The NOSPR concert is an opportunity to create something entirely new for Ewa. The intimacy and superb acoustics of the hall inspire me to present new string-octet compositions, which may be the starting point for our next album — this time with an orchestra.”

Hanna Banaszak

“We first met about 20 years ago at the Osiecka Studio, where I was playing as a sideman. In 2022, I invited Hanna to the Old Jazz Meeting, where she charmed the audience. A year later, she performed at my own Wschód Piękna festival. Since then, I’ve been gently but persistently keeping in touch. My persistence will pay off with her guest appearance on the Katowice stage. Hanna lives in the moment, focusing her artistic attention on the present and leaving behind past repertoire. ‘Life is too interesting to sing the same thing over and over,’ she says. New string-octet arrangements will enrich our performance together.”

Ruth Wilhelmine Meyer

“A phenomenal vocalist and one of the pillars of the Norwegian vocal scene, Ruth commands a multi-voice vocal expression. Her singing reflects influences of ethnic sounds, Norwegian folk, classical vocal traditions, and avant-garde extended techniques. She has developed a non-verbal vocal range spanning over six octaves! Through her multi-layered vocal landscapes, she blurs the boundaries between the real and the unreal, the expected and the unexpected, allowing the sound itself to tell the story. Since 2009, she has been the principal soloist of World Orchestra, experimenting with voice, imitating birdsong and the sounds of nature, blending Norwegian traditions with Sámi joik and Mongolian throat singing.”

Tamara Behler

“A graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in the cello class, Tamara is a vocalist specialising in retro and swing styles, which she fuses with Polish tradition and a Nordic sound. Unique in that she sings and plays the cello simultaneously, her debut album (due summer 2025) enchants with lyricism, nostalgia, and precision. She collaborates with Ewa Bem, Urszula Dudziak, Alchemik Big Band, and World Orchestra.”

Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 150 minutes