Aleksander Nowak was born in 1979 in Gliwice. He began his musical education with piano and guitar under the guidance of Grażyna and Grzegorz Dzierzgowski and continued as a guitarist in the class of Bogusław Pietrzak at the State Music School in Gliwice, where he also took his first steps in composition under the Ukrainian composer and pianist, Uliana Biłan. He is also a graduate of Primary School No. 40 (currently S.P. No. 15) and the High School No. 1 in Gliwice.
In 2001, he began studying in the composition class of Aleksander Lasoń at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, and after completing his Master's degree, he continued his studies from 2006 to 2008 under Steve Rouse at the University of Louisville, USA (Master of Arts).
Since 2008, he has been employed in the Department of Composition and Music Theory at the Academy of Music in Katowice. In 2010, he received his doctoral degree, earned his habilitation in 2016, and was titled professor in 2022. From 2020 to 2024, he served as the Chair of the of Composition and Music Theory.
He is a full member of the Polish Composers' Union and ZAiKS. From 2011 to 2020, he served as the president of the Katowice branch of the Union of Polish Composers, coordinating festivals such as "Silesian Days of Contemporary Music," "Silesian Tribunes of Composers," and "Brand-New Music."
He composes instrumental and vocal-instrumental music, occasionally also using electronics. His works are performed in Poland and occasionally abroad. His catalog includes over 40 works of various genres, from solo pieces, through songs and chamber music to symphonic and stage compositions.
Opera and musical drama hold a significant place in his work. He has written several works in this category, often in collaboration with contemporary writers. In 2009 and 2010, the Grand Theatre National Opera in Warsaw staged the chamber opera Sudden Rain with a libretto by Anna Konieczna and directed by Maja Kleczewska. In 2013, during the International Festival of Contemporary Music "Warsaw Autumn," a quasi-musical drama for solo voices and video "Spoon River" to texts by Edgar Lee Masters was presented, created in cooperation with Adam Dudek. In March 2015, the premiere of the opera "Space Opera" to a libretto by Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov took place, directed by Ewelina Pietrowiak, commissioned by the Grand Theatre in Poznań. In September 2018, during the Sacrum-Profanum Festival, the opera "ahat-ilī – Sister of the Gods" to a libretto by Olga Tokarczuk was staged, directed by Pia Partum, commissioned by the Kraków Festival Office. In 2019, the work "Drach. Dramma per musica" to a libretto by Szczepan Twardoch was created for the Auksodrone festival. In 2020 and 2021, further dramas forming a trilogy of works with librettos by Twardoch, "Syrena. Melodrama aeterna" and "Pokora. Dramma giocoso" were produced. In 2021, the monodrama "lo firgai – The Mask," based on the story "The Mask" by Stanisław Lem, was created, and in 2022, the chamber drama "Tale of the Serpent Heart. Favola in musica" to a libretto by Radek Rak, based on the novel "Tale of the Serpent Heart," was created. In 2023, the vaudeville "Things" to a libretto by Marcin Wicha, based on the novel "Things I Didn't Throw Away," was produced, and in 2024, another drama with a libretto by Marcin Wicha, "Arctic Fever. Comedia harmonica," was presented.
Aleksander Nowak has never won any composition competition, but he has received awards including the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship Award (2007), the "Guarantee of Culture" Award (2011), the Young Poland Scholarship from the National Centre for Culture (2011), the Scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (2012, 2015), the "Politika's Passport" Award (2018), the Onet O!lśnienia Award (2020), the Coryphaeus of Polish Music Award (2020, 2021), and the Polish Composers' Union Award (2021).
His compositions have been awarded the Fryderyk award in the category Album of the Year Opera and Oratorio Music: “ahat-ili Sister of the Gods” (2021) and “Syrena. Melodrama aeterna” (2022).
The scores of his works are published by the Polish Music Edition. Recordings have been released by Polish Radio Katowice, CD Accord, Sarton, and PWM-Anaklasis.
Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne – composer’s profile