Bio

photo Maciej Sypniewski

Gosia Zagajewska (born in 1987) Poet, vocalist.

She has received an honourable mention in competitions such as 14th Połów by Biuro Literackie, the 25th and 26th Jacek Bierezin Polish Poetry Competition, and in the 2nd Polish Literary Competition „Nowy Dokument Tekstowy”. She has been published in biBLioteka, KONTENT, Drobiazgi, Tlen Literacki, Strona Czynna and in the “Głód” anthology published by the Institute of Literature. Her debut poetry collection will be published in 2023.

She is active in the improvised music scene. She explores the use of the voice as an instrument in compositions created in real time. Considering the voice as the most primal and natural tool for creating sound, she tries not to limit herself to one vocal technique, but to diversify and expand forms of expression. She is a member of several bands, such as: Tuleje, Figa, Szpety, Casting Lots, Fantastic Swimmers, Warsaw Improvisers Orchestra, Word-Sound-Pool. The band Tuleje, which has been recently formed on her initiative, features double bassist Ksawery Wójciński and percussionist Wojciech Kurek. It is an intriguing new project exploring traditional music, improvisation and poetry, creating minimalist arrangements based on folk melodies from eastern Wielkopolska and contemporary lyrics. In 2022, the band’s debut album was released by Gusstaff Records and gained an honourable mention in the Turniej Muzyków Prawdziwych Tournament.

She has appeared on many albums. She has performed at festivals such as Krakow Jazz Autumn, Warsaw Sound Sanatorium, Fortalicje, ECLAT Festival and Spontaneous Music Festival, as well as in Germany and the UK, including the legendary London club Cafe OTO. She has collaborated with artists such as Paulina Owczarek, Antonina Nowacka, Anna Jędrzejewska, Katarzyna Smoluk-Moczydłowska, Ray Dickaty, Emilio Gordoa, Piotr Dąbrowski and Alexey Vorsoba. She has collaborated with Ksawery Wójciński on a number of occasions, including his original series „Muzyczne DNA mojego domu. Trasa koncertowa do wewnątrz.”(Musical DNA of my house. A tour inwards), and a joint composition “28” based on Prelude in E minor by Frédéric Chopin.

In 2022, she was awarded a scholarship by the Marshal of the Wielkopolska region and as a result led a series of original voice improvisation workshops 'Głosowanie’. During the classes, participants improvised on graphic scores and with her own simple gesture system.
For some time, she was associated with the Powszechny Theatre and the Strefa Wolnosłowa. As part of the multicultural project Atlas, she performed in the play „Narysowałam więcej, niż tu widać” (I drew more than you can see here), directed by Alicja Borkowska and staged on the small stage of the Powszechny Theatre, as well as at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. She has translated scripts for French theatre groups. She founded the ephemeral multicultural collective Andakali Goveyu, which prepared the performance „Człowiek podstawowy”(Elementary man), as well as several improvised performances in the public space of Warsaw.

photo Lilia Khudik