Hania Derej

Composer, pianist, arranger and conductor. Student of the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (Composing for Film) and a graduate of the Music Academy in Kraków (symphonic conducting). Author of over 150 compositions, she creates music in a variety of styles, including illustrative, jazz, chamber, film or electronic music.

As a conductor, Hania has had the opportunity to lead concerts with the National Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra (Poland), Elbląg Chamber Orchestra (Poland), Lviv Chamber Orchestra “Akademia” (Ukraine) and the Moravian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra (Czech Republic), among others.

Hania also participates in international music projects and conferences in Europe, such as European FAMES Orchestra (Macedonia), The Playground Residence (Germany, The Netherlands), International Sync Camp (Poland), International Jazz Platform (The Netherlands, Norway, Poland), Music Export Academy in Poland, Global Conservatory and Eastern European Music Export Academy (Ukraine), “Iceland Airways networking mission”, ESNS Showcase Festival & Conference networking mission (The Netherlands) and Jazzahead 2025 (Germany).

Currently Hania focuses on a new project, called “Hania Derej Trio”, which blurs the boundaries between jazz, electronic and neoclassical music.

Awards

She has won multiple composition and performance awards including the Grand Prix of Energa Ladies Jazz Festival in Gdynia, Main Prize in “Sanki” 2025, music contest of “Gazeta Wyborcza” newspaper (the new hope of the Polish music scene), the Main Prize of the first “Jazz Talents” competition within the 21st edition of Jazz Spring Zakopane 2025, Triton Award for the greatest artistic personality of the 54th edition of FAMA Festival 2024 in Świnoujście, a special award for compositions and arrangements at the Junior Jazz Festival 2023 in Wadowice, and the “Young Composer 2023” award funded by the Polish Composers’ Union in Warsaw during the International Piano Forum in Sanok. Within this Piano Forum, Hania also received piano awards, such as a distinction for the performance of a concert with the National Polish Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra and a concert with the Lviv Chamber Orchestra “Academy”.

In the JAZZTOP 2024 music critics’ survey of the international magazine JAZZFORUM, Hania Derej won the “New Hope” award for her solo work and came 5th in the “New Hope — Ensemble” category (for her work as Hania Derej Quintet). In April 2025, Hania was awarded a distinction in the nationwide “Young Promoter of Poland” Contest, under the Honorary Patronage of the Wife of the President of the Republic of Poland, for young Poles whose activities contribute to the popularization of knowledge about Poland and building a positive image of Poland in the world.

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