Jakub Ciupiński

Jakub Ciupiński is Polish composer living in New York City. Although his music is often associated with electronics and interactive performances, he has written numerous pieces for traditional acoustic forces, varying in scope from solo miniatures to an hour-long Oratorio for symphony orchestra and double choir.

At the age of 18, he signed a contract with Sony Music Poland and since then has been recording electronica-infused world music under the stage name Jakub Żak. His concert music has been commissioned by various institutions and ensembles, including Metropolis Ensemble, the New Juilliard Ensemble, and the New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute, and by the world-famous violinists Anne Akiko-Meyers and Philippe Quint. His works have been performed internationally at such prestigious venues as Tonhalle in Zurich and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Ciupiński is a co-founder of Blind Ear Music, a New York–based group of composers and instrumentalists performing improvised, real-time compositions using wirelessly connected laptops as musical score displays. He has also designed his own instrument for performing electronic music using hand gestures.

Ciupiński has collaborated with a variety of artists, musicians, choreographers, and film directors, including Oscar-winning director Andrzej Wajda, and scored the music for United Nations documentary Opening Doors. Ciupiński studied with Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Christopher Rouse at the Juilliard School, Zbigniew Bujarski and Krzysztof Penderecki at the Cracow Academy of Music, and with Edwin Roxbrough and Joe Cutler at the Birmingham Conservatoire.

He first joined the studio composition and production faculty in 2013–14 as a visiting assistant professor. He currently serves as head of the studio composition program and artistic director and conductor of Purchase Orchestra Electric, an innovative multimedia project combining live orchestra with electronics, lights and and video projection mapping.