# Damaś

Piotr Damasiewicz, (born April 11, 1980, in Wrocław), also known as Damaś or Damas is a Polish composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist who plays trumpet, double bass, and piano. He performs classical music, including Gregorian chant and choral music. He has also worked in chamber conducting, music arrangement, and composition, incorporating jazz, 20th century classical music, ethnic music, modern music, and European improvised music.
Damasiewicz studied music in Wrocław, Bydgoszcz, and Katowice.
Damasiewicz has represented Poland in four international music platforms: Take Five Europe, Jazz Plays Europe Laboratory, Art Meetings, and Melting Pot Laboratory (Jazztopad). He is currently studying for his doctorate at the Instrumental Department of Feliks Nowowiejski Music Academy in Bydgoszcz.

## Biography

In 2019, he walked 4,186 kilometres from the Ukrainian border to Santiago de Compostela. Over six months, he made more than 100 audio recordings in sacred spaces, utilising their unique acoustic properties.

### Band activities and composing

Damasiewicz has participated in the bands Power Of The Horns, Mnemotaksja, and Into the Roots, and in orchestral works such as Hadrons and Suite 29. He also performs as a solo composer.
Damasiewicz has worked collaboratively in VeNN Circles, Red Trio Quintet, and Hangar Music, as well as Elements and Sesto Elemento with Maciej Garbowski.

### Compositional works

Damasiewicz composed Hadrons, commissioned by the Jazztopad festival. Suite 29 was written for the World Jazz Days for Polish Radio Program II. He also composed for 27 improvisers as part of the final Melting Pot (Jazztopad) platform in Wrocław, and Some Kind Of Greek Story, commissioned by Casa de Musica in Porto. Damasiewicz also created music for The Scent of Lviv by Grzegorz Korczak.
He is a co-composer of the European jazz anthem for the 25th anniversary of the European Jazz Network.

### Educational activities

Damasiewicz worked at the Music Academy in Zanzibar as an artistic director. From 2006 to 2007, he conducted a brass band at the Ryszard Bukowski State Secondary Music School in Wrocław. He co-created the orchestral project "Wszystko Gra" with Władysław Kosendiak, in cooperation with the Lower Silesian Music Society.
Damasiewicz studied at the academies of music in Wrocław (Akademia Muzyczna im. Karola Lipińskiego we Wrocławiu), Bydgoszcz (Akademia Muzyczna im. Feliksa Nowowiejskiego w Bydgoszczy), and Katowice (Akademia Muzyczna w Katowicach). Afterward, he founded MATA.

## Collaborations

* David Murray
* Jason Moran
* James Carter
* Tomasz Stanko
* Lotte Anker
* Magda Mayas
* Phil Minton
* Jeb Bishop
* Andrzej Bauer
* Dave Rempis
* Michael Zerang
* Paul Nilsen Lowe
* Skalpel
* Jon Falt
* Satoko Fuji
* Morihide Sawada
* Hans Koch
* Joker Nies
* Kazuhisa Uhichashi
* Rodrigo Amado
* Zdzisław Piernik
* Per Zanussi
* Marcin Masecki
* Cezary Duchnowski
* Josh Sinton
* Betina Wenzel
* Wolfgang Reisinger
* Eduardo Maraffa
* Mathias Muche.
* Maciej Garbowski
* Aukso Chamber orchestra
He frequently collaborates with Maciej Obara and Dominik Wania.

## Awards

* Winner of the Fryderyk 2013 phonographic award
* Winner of the Wareto Award granted by Gazeta Wyborcza
* Winner of the Wrocław Music Award
* Laureate of the Krzysztof Komeda composer competition
* Trumpeter of the year in the "Jazz Forum" Jazz Top 2020 Critics' poll
* Trumpeter of the year in Jazz Top "Jazz Forum" 2021 readers’ poll
* "Watra" in the ranking of top 10 Polish jazz albums 2021 according to Polska Płyta / Polska Muzyka
* "Watra" took 3rd place in the JazzPRESS 2021 editorial ranking

## Selected discography
### As leader

| Year | Project/Title | Label |
| 2011 | Piotr Damasiewicz / "Hadrons" | Ars Cameralis Records |
| 2013 | Piotr Damasiewicz / ''Power Of The Horns'' | For Tune |
| 2013 | Piotr Damasiewicz/ "Imprographic" | For Tune |
| 2014 | Piotr Damasiewicz Quartet / ''Mnemotaksja'' | For Tune |
| 2020 | Piotr Damasiewicz Into The Roots / "Śpiwle" | L.A.S listening and sounding |
| 2021 | Piotr Damasiewicz / "Hadrons" | L.A.S listening and sounding |
| 2021 | Piotr Damasiewicz Into The Roots / "Watra" | L.A.S listening and sounding |

### As co-founder

| Year | Project/Title | Label |
| 2013 | veNN circles Tuple | B.D.T.A. |
| 2014 | veNN circles | |
| 2015 | Red Trio / Lebik / Damasiewicz Mineral | Bocian |

### As a sideman

| Year | Project/Title | Label/Country |
| 2011 | ''Concept Art Orchestra Katowice'' Conductor Ed Partyka | Cesky Rozhlas / Czech Republic |
| 2012 | ''Maciej Garbowski Elements'' | IMP (international music production) |
| 2012 | "Kariera Kolysanki" | kariera.art.pl |
| 2015 | ''Maciej Garbowski Sesto Elemento'' | Fundacja Sluchaj |
| 2015 | ''Marek Kądziela ADHD In Bloom'' | For Tune |
| 2015 | Spinifex „Maximus” | Tryton / Holland |
| 2018 | Michał Jaros “Floating Bridges” | |