Sebastian Zawadzki

Sebastian Zawadzki is a Polish-born pianist and composer based in Copenhagen, Denmark. His work moves between contemporary European and Nordic jazz, contemporary classical composition and film music, with a musical language centred on melody, space, improvisation and cinematic form.

Based in Denmark since 2010, Zawadzki has developed a distinctive approach to the piano that combines Scandinavian spaciousness and restraint with contemporary composition, lyrical improvisation and a strong sense of narrative. His projects range from acoustic piano trio and solo piano to chamber ensembles, electronics and symphony orchestra.

His latest album, CORNEA (Sebastian Zawadzki Music, 2026), was recorded in Copenhagen with Mariusz Praśniewski on double bass and Haim Peskoff on drums. The eleven-track acoustic trio record explores the threshold between clarity and obscurity, sound and silence, structure and atmosphere. Following its August 2026 release, CORNEA received a 4/5 review from UK Vibe and was selected as Editor's Choice by Polish Jazz Blog. The trio presented music from the album during Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2026.

Zawadzki is also a member of the Adam Bałdych Quintet. He appears on Portraits (ACT Music, 2025) on piano and upright piano, and his composition Prelude is included on the album. Portraits was nominated for a Fryderyk Award in the Jazz Album of the Year category. On 17 January 2027, Zawadzki is scheduled to perform with the quintet at Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic during the Biennale of the Berliner Philharmoniker.

His wider work includes contemporary classical composition, orchestration and music for visual media. He participated in the ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop in Los Angeles with Richard Bellis, where he conducted his own orchestral music at the 20th Century Fox Newman Scoring Stage. He has worked as an arranger and orchestrator for Academy Award-winning composer Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, written orchestrations for Copenhagen Phil, and creates contemporary instrumental and cinematic music in connection with A New Story / Upright Music.

Zawadzki's discography includes solo-piano, chamber, orchestral, electronic and jazz recordings, among them Between the Dusk of a Summer Night, Norn, Piano Works, Songs About Time, Altair, Vibrations, Monochrome and CORNEA. Across these projects he continues to explore the meeting point between composition and spontaneity, intimacy and scale, and acoustic sound and cinematic imagination.

Awards

2026 — Portraits by the Adam Bałdych Quintet (ACT Music), featuring Sebastian Zawadzki on piano/upright piano and his composition “Prelude,” nominated for a Fryderyk Award — Jazz Album of the Year.

2016 — First Prize, Transatlantyk Film Festival Instant Composition Contest.

2016 — Selected for the ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop in Los Angeles with Richard Bellis.

Earlier jazz awards and distinctions include the European Jazz Contest, Jazz Juniors, Tarnów Jazz Contest and Novum Jazz Festival.

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