Jakub Szafrański, a composer of the young generation, won the 'AERCO: My first 50 years' International Composition Competition, to which over 200 works were submitted. The Pole received the first prize in the category of pieces for eight-voice choir for his Waterfall for two sopranos, two altos, two tenors and two baritones to words by Henry Vaughan (1621-1695).
In addition to receiving a cash prize of EUR 2000, Szafrański’s work will be published by Hal Leonard Europe and will be premiered by the British vocal ensemble Voces8. The AERCO (Associazione Emiliano Romagnola Cori) competition in Bologna aims at promoting a cappella choral compositions. This year's competition jury consisted of internationally-renowned choral conductors and composers from Italy, the United Kingdom, Romania, Russia, Latvia and the Philippines. The jury was chaired by Philip Lawson, a Grammy-winning British composer and arranger, a former member of the King’s Singers.
Jakub Szafrański (b. 1988) is a graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. In 2015 he received a diploma in choral conducting under the supervision of prof. Ryszard Zimak, and two years later a diploma in composition under the supervision of prof. Paweł Łukaszewski. As a composer, he concentrates on works for a cappella choir, predominantly to liturgical and sacred texts. He won the 1st prize at the 57th Tadeusz Baird Competition for Young Composers (2016) and several other awards at composition competitions in Poland and abroad. His works have been performed by leading Polish and foreign ensembles, including the New Music Orchestra, proMODERN vocal sextet, Poznań Chamber Choir, Trinity College Cambridge Choir, Kammerchor Hannover and Janua Muzika from Vilnius. On the commission of the Polish Composers' Union, Jakub Szafrański wrote a piece Karpaty for the 60th Jubile "Warsaw Autumn" International Festival of Contemporary Music.