The Only Female Percussion Duo in Poland

Dalbergia Duo is the only Polish marimba percussion duo. Founded in 2017, the duo has already achieved international success – festival concerts that have been well received by a wide audience, as well as being honored with the first prize in the chamber music category at the VI International Master Competition for Music Teachers and a recommendation from the Polish Music Foundation for outstanding interpretation of Polish works. Dalbergia Duo actively collaborates with young Polish composers in performing and co-creating new compositions. In June 2018, the artists were lecturers at the Percussion Seminar organized at the F. Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, and in July they conducted a lecture combined with a performance of 'in the pink' by Marta Śniady during the II Agora Actual – European Meeting of Contemporary Percussion in Xabia, Spain, at the invitation of the organizers. Their trip received support from the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
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dr Anna Rutkowska is a talented marimbist and percussionist who continuously broadens her horizons. A graduate of the Academy of Music in Krakow, she develops her career as a soloist and chamber musician. As a laureate of the XII International Contemporary Chamber Music Competition in Krakow, she has shown a strong interest in contemporary percussion music, especially that written for and performed on the marimba. She was born on August 25, 1984, in Kielce. After completing the Ludomir Różycki State Music School of the first degree in Kielce in the piano class in 1998, she continued her studies at the same school in the percussion class. She continued her percussion education in the instrumental direction at the Academy of Music in Krakow, where she obtained a Master of Arts diploma with honors in 2009. In November 2017, the artist obtained a doctorate from the Academy of Music in Krakow, thanks to her dissertation titled 'The Influence of Culture, Tradition, and Art of Japan on Contemporary Marimba Literature by Japanese Composers Keiko Abe, Minoru Miki, and Akira Miyoshi.'
Anna Rutkowska has performed at many festivals in Poland and abroad: 'Warsaw Autumn' (Warsaw), 'Źródła i Inspiracje' (Kraków), 'Crossdrumming' (Warsaw), 'Audio Art' (Kraków), 'Beethovenfest' (Bonn, Germany), 'Kalima' (Lausanne, Switzerland), 'Uitgast' (Lelystad, Netherlands), 'Krakow Composers Festival' (Kraków, Poland). She has numerous percussion and marimba concerts to her credit. Additionally, her artistic achievements include premieres of Japanese marimba music.
Anna has collaborated with chamber ensembles focusing on percussion music: Mallet Collective Amsterdam (Amsterdam), Rhythmic Ethnic (Kraków), Amadrums (Kraków), siXen (Warsaw).
Currently, she co-creates with Dr. Julianna Siedler-Smuga the only marimba duo in Poland – Dalbergia Duo (Warsaw). She continues to seek new 'shades' of marimba sound by performing works for mixed ensembles, such as marimba, soprano, and piano, or prepared marimba duets. Anna Rutkowska has participated in numerous percussion and marimba masterclasses, learning under the guidance of, among others: Keiko Abe, Marta Klimasara, Jean Geoffroy, William Moersch, Katarzyna Myćka, Nebojša Jovan Živković, Peter Prommel, Theodor Milkov, Pius Cheung, Tchiki Duo, Ramona Lormans. Anna Rutkowska conducts both artistic (solo/chamber) and educational activities, organizing marimba workshops and lectures on percussion and marimba music in Poland and abroad. Her classical sensitivity to music, combined with the artist's fiery temperament, creates an extraordinary combination, which is felt during every performance of the marimbist. The repertoire she presents encompasses a wide range of genres and musical styles: from solo works, through creativity in chamber ensembles, to concerts with orchestras.
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dr Julianna Kamila Siedler-Smuga graduated with honors from the G. and K. Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź, at the master's level in 2012. In June 2014, she also completed her master's studies (Master in de Muziek) in the marimba class of Prof. Ludwig Albert and Chin Cheng Lin at the Royal Conservatory Antwerp (Artesis Hogeschool Antwerpen) in Belgium. In 2011, she received a scholarship from the Erasmus program to the Royal Conservatory Brussels, where she had the opportunity to study under professors: G. François, B. Quartier, and B. Bouckaert. In 2013, she was a semi-finalist in the International Marimba Competition in Opole, in 2014 she qualified for the International Marimba Competition in Bamberg, and in 2013 she was nominated by her university as a representative for the Yamaha scholarship competition.
Her solo activity is evident in independent concerts, as well as during numerous festivals (including Musica Privata, Umami Live Berlin, Musica Moderna, Film Music Festival in Łódź) and concerts during various festivals and workshops organized in Poland and abroad. At the diploma concert in 2012, she performed (accompanied by the Łódź Philharmonic Orchestra) the world premiere of 'Concerto for Marimba' by Nina Fukuoka (a student of Prof. Z. Krauze). Julianna has been interested in contemporary music since the beginning of her studies, collaborating with contemporary students and lecturers of the composition department at the Academy of Music in Łódź, performing many world premieres of compositions. The continuation of this collaboration became an inspiration for her doctoral work: 'The Latest Polish Works for Marimba in the Context of Classical and Unconventional Playing Techniques on the Example of Glass Wood Plastic by Kuba Krzewiński, Solid by Artur Zagajewski, Belgian rare groove & breakbeat by Nina Fukuoka, and Purity 2 by Tomasz Goliński.' Three of the four compositions were composed specifically for her and premiered during her doctoral studies. In June 2017, she received the title of Doctor of Musical Arts, working under the supervision of Prof. Grzegorz Jurczyk.
During her studies, Julianna actively participated in the activities of the percussion ensemble Percussion Studio, as a member of the ensemble, soloist, and in duets, having the opportunity to combine the activities of a chamber musician with contemporary music during the Contemporary Music Festival – Nove Hudby Plus in Brno, Czech Republic, in 2008, working under the guidance of Prof. K. Knittl and Dr. hab. Artur Zagajewski. The artist has also collaborated with the university's Big Band under the direction of Prof. J. Delong, with whom she had the opportunity to participate in jazz workshops led by Michael Patterson in 2009. She gained her knowledge of jazz music at workshops conducted by Prof. Bernard Maselego in 2005, 2006, and 2008.
During her five years of studies, and even to this day, she collaborates with professional orchestras, including: the Łódź Philharmonic Orchestra, the Grand Theatre in Łódź, the Warsaw Chamber Opera Orchestra, and the Kalisz Philharmonic, as well as academic orchestras (Orchestras of the Academy of Music in Łódź, Symphony Orchestra of the Royal Conservatory Brussels). She has had the opportunity to perform under the baton of renowned conductors, including D. Raiskin, M. Nesterowicz, M. Pijarowski, A. Boreyko, J. M. Florêncio, T. Wojciechowski, K. Penderecki, K. Korda, W. Michniewski, and many others. She has performed an extensive repertoire ranging from classical to jazz, film, sonoristic, and contemporary music.
The artist arranges music for her own needs. She continuously improves her skills at many master classes in Poland and abroad, working under the guidance of outstanding professors (including Keiko Abe, Jean Geoffroy, Nebojsa J. Živković, Katarzyna Myćka, Marta Klimasara, Emmanuel Sejourne, Tchiki Duo, Shoko Sakai, Axoum Duo, Antonio Caggiano, Wojciech Herzyk, Sergey Buranov, Nanae Mimura, Seung-Myeong Oh, Daniella Ganeva, Kuniko Kato, Pei Ching Wu).
Since the 2014/2015 academic year, she has had the opportunity to combine her two passions: percussion and teaching. Already in her debut year, she managed to win the hearts of many of her students, instilling a passion for percussion instruments, as evidenced by the awards her students have received in regional and national competitions.
From 2014 to 2017, together with Amber Tzu – Chun Chen, she formed the marimba duo Equilibri Duo. She is a member of the Association of Percussion Educators and the International Marimba Association – Marimba Festiva, within which she is a co-organizer of the 'Marimba Meetings' initiated in November 2017.
She currently lives and works in Warsaw: collaborating with the Warsaw Chamber Opera Orchestra, teaching in Warsaw and suburban music schools of the first and second degree, and also working in the Dalbergia Duo. In August 2018, she completed another master's degree in percussion theater at LUCA - Lemmensinstituut in Leuven, Belgium (Percussion Theater) under the guidance of Chin Cheng Lin. She continuously collaborates with contemporary music composers who write compositions dedicated to her.
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