This is an archival recording of my grandfather's piece "Nad Prosną" ("At The Prosna River") from the 60's. The orchestra and choir conducted by the composer. The audio is remastered from an old reel-to-reel player. He dedicated the song to his wife - my grandmother. 

Though the words in this recording are inaudible, this beautiful poem draws from the local mythology of the region and the city - Calisia (Kalisz) where Prosna flows, is known to be mentioned by Ptolemy as one of the "Amber Road" cities and is one of the oldest cities in Europe.

"Nad Prosną"  (ca. 1960) (music/words by Józef Samelczak)

Piotr Nowotnik composes contemporary chamber music, world fusion, music for theatre, film, and games, drawing from his diverse experience as collaborating artist, composer, and sound designer.

He graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in Music Composition and finished his Master degree at the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Conservatory of Music. Currently, Piotr’s works are being published by Wirripang Pty Ltd and performed in China, France, Australia and the USA.

He continuously engages in collaboration with artists from a variety of genres and disciplines: from Musique Concrete production for Butoh dance theater in Paris, through his involvement in a live music scene in Australia, Europe and the USA.

His recent commissions include music for Melbourne Fringe Festival, Pleroma Theater from Hong Kong, Human Dance company from Paris, soundscapes, and soundtracks for Melbourne-based 'La Mama' theatre. He worked as sound designer on “Steppenwolf: A Musical Retelling” production developed by The New School in Manhattan, New York; collaborated with New York-based choreographers and theatre artists.  

In 2016, Piotr has been commissioned to compose music to a broadway-style musical currently in development by Pene Patrick - an Australian writer and director. Piotr is also working as an orchestrator on a theatrical show developed by Los Angeles-based duo: composer Jess Platt and writer Mark Massi.

In 2015, Piotr became the first-ever AMPlify participant as he was chosen to collaborate with DJ/producer - Marlo Hoogstraten. His unprecedented use of unusual instruments and organic sound in Trance music resulted in the release of new pieces and live tour in Sydney and Melbourne in 2016.

His soundtrack album for “The Journey” (a film by Marco Kamareddine premièred at the Cannes Festival in 2013) has been nominated for “Best Soundtrack Album“ award (APRA Screen Awards 2013).
​
He is a finalist of Indie Gathering Scoring Competition (Ohio, 2010) and a recipient of Billilla Artist in Residence programme (2010-2011).

To this day, Piotr composed three LP albums with theatrical music, three world music fusion projects with his band ‘Umanee’ (2004-2008), one film score album and two solo releases.