When The Harp met The Guitar
ACh Duo - guitar & harp
ALEKSANDER PANKOWSKI VEL JANKOWSKI & NOEMI HAŃCZYK GUITAR & HARP
She, The Harp, is Julia Łopuszyńska.
He, The Guitar, is Aleksander Pankowski vel Jankowski.
Together they are ACh Duo (pronounced /aχ ˈdu·oʊ/).
Their stage name is derived from Italian. It is a fusion of the words representing their respective instruments, "arpa" and "chitarra".
The only one of its kind in Poland, this unusual musical pair won 1st place at the International Suoni d'Arpa Competition in Saluzzo, Italy in 2018. Since then, ACh Duo has become a force to reckon with in the world of classical music in Europe.
fot. Anita Wąsik-Płocińska
“The only one of its kind in Poland”
Their repertoire includes original compositions for harp and guitar and their own musical arrangements of classical works, for instance - Claude Debussy's. The debut album, Alla Polacca, was released in 2021. It marked an important event in the history of Polish discography. Never before had there ever been a record with music specially arranged for and performed by a harp-guitar duo.
The most recent success story, from 2020, is the 3rd place and the audience award at the 2nd International Guitar Competition “Ida Presti” in Sambor, Croatia. That recognition brought the duo a special prize as well, an invitation to perform a recital in Croatia.
/bio in English by Saba Kozinska/
“Their stage name is derived from Italian. It is a fusion of the words representing their respective instruments, "arpa" and "chitarra".”
aleksander Pankowski vel Jankowski - guitarist
fot. Anita Wąsik-Płocińska
Aleksander Pankowski vel Jankowski is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Katowice in Poland under the direction of Marek Nosal, PhD, from which he graduated in 2018.
He started learning to play guitar at the Music Centre in Gryfino in Grażyna Mużyłło's class and continued his education at the F. Nowowiejski Secondary Music School Complex in Szczecin under the supervision of Jakub Kościuszko, PhD.
Winner of international, nationwide competitions, including:
- 2nd place - 2nd International Youth Guitar Competition "Tallinn 2013" (Estonia)
- 1st place and GRAND PRIX - Baltic Guitar Festival 2017 (Lithuania)
- 2nd place - 2nd International Guitar Competition Vilnius 2018 (Lithuania)
- 3rd place - 25th Hermoupolis Guitar Festival 2018 (Greece)
- 1st place and GRAND PRIX - Tczew Guitar Competition 2018 (Poland)
- 1st place - IMKA Internet Music Competition
Aleksander is a scholarship holder of the "Young Poland" program of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland in 2023. He is also two-time scholarship holder of the Mayor of the City of Szczecin.
Member of the jury during the guitar competition at the "Baltic Guitar Festival" in Birštonas (Lithuania). He took part in numerous courses and master classes conducted by outstanding guitar teachers and virtuosos, such as Marcin Dylla, Łukasz Kuropaczewski,
Zoran Dukić, Carlo Marchione, Gabriel Bianco, Susana Prieto, Alexis Muzurakis.
Julia Łopuszyńska - harp
Julia Łopuszyńska was born in Warsaw. She began her musical education at the age of 6 by playing the violin, harp and piano. She studied at the Academy of Music in Katowice (Poland) with Prof. Helga Storck, the Zurcher Hochschule der Kunst (Switzerland) and the Hochschule fur Musik in Basel (Switzerland).
She has won awards at many national and international solo and chamber music competitions (including Italy, Poland, Ukraine, Germany, Slovenia, Czech Republic), and in 2014 was included in the "Young Musician of the Year" program. In 2015 and 2022 she became a scholarship holder of the "Young Poland" program of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, as well as the Leslaw A. Paga Scholarship.
The artist has been invited to perform Handel's Harp Concerto with the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra/Poznan, as well as with the Czestochowa Philharmonic and the Universitat Orchestra in Basel. Other important performances include Danse Sacred & Profane by C. Debussy with the Munich Chamber Orchestra, Ravel's Introduction et Allegro at the NOSPR Tonhalle in Katowice, Harp Ensemble in Bonn, concerts for Stichting Cultuur De Dijken in the Netherlands, Berner Festspiele and Chichester psalms - L. Bernstein at the 22nd Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw (2018).
As an orchestral musician, the harpist has collaborated with many orchestras, including the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw, the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, AUKSO - the Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy, the Orchestra of New Music, the Orchestra of Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (2016 and 2018) and the 7th New Music Festival at the NOSPR (2017).
Julia Lopuszynska was invited to perform at the World Harp Congress in Amsterdam (2008) and in Hong Kong (2017). As of 2020 - She is performing in a production of Anton Chekhov's "Three Sisters" at the National Theater in Warsaw. She also won an audition for a permanent position with the K. Szymanowski Philharmonic Orchestra of Krakow in September 2021. As of 2022, she is working at two music schools in Switzerland. Together with her brother Stanley Lopuszynski (harpsichord), she forms the Harp Chords Duo.
fot. Anita Wąsik-Płocińska