Adam Pietrykowski

The Student Becomes a ‘Master’

In Studio Composition

Adam Pietrykowski ’18 has been a regular figure in the Conservatory of Music since joining campus for his Master’s in Music in 2016. He felt drawn to the program to further his professional musical network in the New York area after his initial studies in Canada. At the recommendation of a friend, Adam joined the student body and embraced the creative environment on campus so much so that after graduation, Professor Pietrykowski joined the Studio Composition faculty in 2018. 

Choosing Purchase

In his own words, “Purchase is a place like no other.” When asked for what people made his time so special, Adam shared that there were so many people that made such a positive impact on his life and career during his time here. Shouting out Silas Brown, Jakub Ciupiński, Peter Denenberg and Beatriz Martin-Ruiz,  Adam joked that Purchase reminds him a bit of Xavier’s School for the Gifted {In Music} in X-Men.

“The ethos at this school is that you’re encouraged to broaden your horizons, and then integrate all the new ideas you learn into your own art. The blend of traditional education and forward-thinking pedagogy provides balance that I don’t think exists anywhere else… It’s a special kind of artistic nexus in a college campus. “

Current Projects 

Outside of the classroom, Adam has been working as a producer and engineer for a wide variety of artists. His collaboration with many of his new business partners has been a result of his time here at Purchase, as is the case with the folk phenomenon Lady Maisery, who hired Adam after listening to his master’s thesis Encode. 

He also just released Calibrating Friction with Haralabos Stafylakis, another new faculty member here at Purchase College. The album features a brand-new concept in music called “chambercore” – classical instrumentation performing and recorded like a metal record. It features metal musicians gone classical, and classical musicians interpreting metal all under the same roof. 

For further information regarding current projects, please check out his portfolio site here. 

Advice for Future Students?

“The two most important things to do in art school: make friends and make things.

Make friends because these peers become your network. You are all the next generation of music makers, and you can’t “un-know” each other. You are colleagues for life the second you walk into your first class. That’s who calls you for a gig, and who you call when you need someone for your project.

Make things because simply doing classwork isn’t the point. You need to create and to do that you need to try. With trying comes failure and success, but most importantly experience and a portfolio. College is like a petri dish for your art. Everybody I know who followed these axioms has some kind of exciting career.”

*Quotes edited for grammar and clarity.