Sławomir Zubrzycki

Pianist, keyboardist, composer, and instrument builder. A graduate of the Academy of Music in Kraków (1988, piano class of Prof. Tadeusz Żmudziński) and The Boston Conservatory of Music (1990–91, Janice Weber). He also studied with V. Mierżanov, J. Lowenthal, and J. Sonnleitner (harpsichord). Fulbright Foundation scholarship holder. Prizewinner of the Polish Piano Festival in Słupsk (1987).

In 2009, Zubrzycki came across references to a keyboard–bowed instrument designed by Leonardo da Vinci – the Viola Organista. Fascinated by these historical traces, between 2009 and 2012 he built his own version of Leonardo’s invention. The premiere recitals of the viola organista (October 2013) were a huge artistic and media success. News about the creation of the instrument appeared in the world’s most prominent media, including BBC, CNN, The Telegraph, France 24, Deutsche Radio Kultur, Corriere della Sera, MSN, Oman Daily Observer, Hindustan Times, and Taipei Times.

Since 2014, Zubrzycki has been performing on the viola organista (over 100 recitals in 20 countries), appearing at early music festivals in Stockholm, Stavanger, Prague, Nuremberg, Milan, Vercelli, Treviso, Valvasone, Amboise, Metz, Reims, Sion, Liège, Brussels, Ghent, Alden Biesen, Tongerlo, Innsbruck, Bucharest, Zagreb, Bratislava, Vilnius, Warsaw, Wrocław, Biecz, Gdynia, and Toruń. He has performed as a soloist with the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw and as a chamber musician with early music ensembles.

In 2015, the first-ever solo album of this instrument was released under the title “Viola organista – The da Vinci sound.” In 2021 and 2023, he completed the construction of two further viola organista instruments, which can also be heard on subsequent albums: “Wondrous machine” (Note 1 Music), “Alchemie” (Sarton Records), and the 2025 release “Viola organista: Monologues & Dialogues” (Leiter, Berlin).

Currently, in addition to his ongoing concert activity, Zubrzycki is working on building viola organista instruments for the Experimental Studio in Berlin and for the Cathedral in Toledo, as well as continuing the popularization of the instrument.

More information can be found at: www.violaorganista.com