Featured Performers

Philip Shorey

Composer and Conductor / USA

Philip Shorey, graduate of The Institute of Production and Recording in Minneapolis, is the composer and conductor of the Curse of the Vampire Orchestra featuring a theatrical statement of orchestral, choir, electronica, and industrial percussion set to the classic horror film – Nosferatu (1922). He has been a composer in Minneapolis with theatre and film since 2003 and he sees himself as an activist for healing the human heart and strides to work his compositions for that purpose. He has traveled the world extensively with his toy theatre and has gained a wide understanding of art, culture, and the human condition through his travels.

Adrian Białek

Double Bass / Poland

Adrian Białek holds a master of arts. He is a graduate of jazz music at the University of Zielona Góra. He won the 6th International Song Festival KROPKA, 7th Wroclaw Student Culture Review, a special prize for an accompanist and a distinction in the 19th National Review of Poetic Song in Olesno. He realized student practice at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theater in Tallinn (Estonia). He’s a finalist of the 55th Krakow Song Festival. Co-creates a duo Zagubieni w Intencjach.Currently teaches his own music school in Opole and studies in the jazz double bass class at the Music Academy in Krakow.

Sabina Anna

Violin / Poland

Sabina Anna joined Slot Art Orchestra in 2017. She did not expect that a year after she would be a part of this amazing project created by Philip Shorey. “I am really glad that from year to year we can play more concerts on different continents” Violin has been with her since the age of 4 years old and is in University to be a doctor. Music is an integral part of my life despite my medical studies. It’s not just hobby. For me it’s a gift and a blessing.

Sylwia A. Kapela

Soprano Soloist / Poland

Sylwia A. Kapela is of the alumna of Wroclaw Academy of Music, two-time participant of the Polish National Youth Choir project, which enabled her to perform with the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, under the baton of Paul McCreesh. She gives guests performances with the NFM Choir, with which she has performed P.Glass’s Itaipu at Nikolaisal in Potsdam, Charles Lloyd’s Red Waters, Black Sky at the Jazztopad Festival and F. Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang Symphony at the Szczecin Philharmonic. In 2017, she performed the Amore Profano part from A.Scarlatti’s oratorio San Casimiro Re di Polonia at the Wratislavia Cantans Festival. Winner of the third place in 2018 year’s Stonavska Barborka International Music Competition in the Vocal Ensembles category.

Michael D. Atwood

Choir Director / USA

Michael D. Atwood holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance as well as a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting. In addition to his work as a vocalist and conductor, Michael has found success in composition with published pieces now available through Pavane Publishing, Colla Voce Music, and MorningStar. His works have received honors as winner of multiple young composers’ competitions and professional calls for scores, most recently being featured at the 2019 Southern MN Big Nine Music Festival. Michael currently teaches voice out of his private studio near Minneapolis while serving as music director for local churches and theatre companies.

Stephany Claussen

Harp / USA

Twin-Cities harpist Stephanie Claussen invites audiences to explore new locales and eras through her music. Influenced by her love of fairy tales, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the world music section at her local library, she performs a unique mixture of Scottish tunes, J.S. Bach, and anything rich in medieval or French harmonies. Claussen is the 2018 US National Scottish Harp Champion and performs solo and with various ensembles throughout the Upper Midwest. She has released four albums including Soirée à Montpellier and Light so Brilliant.

Nadia Kłos

Violin / Poland

Nadia Kłos is from Poland. She has played violin for 13 years. She is currently studying at the Academy of Music in Gdańsk. In her young music career she has already played in many orchestras (school Orchestra, philharmonic Orchestra, jazz Orchestra) and with bands and string and piano quartets. She is currently developing her solo career with a focus on classical music. In the summer 2019 she was the Curse of the Vampire Orchestra Concertmaster. “It was a wonderful experience. I hope it was not my only time with the Nosferatu Orchestra!”

Aleksandra Dudycz

Choir Director / Poland

Aleksandra Dudycz studies Musical Education, Choral Conducting and Music Theory at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław. She started her musical training at the age of 6, with piano and singing lessons in Jadwiga Szajny-Lewandowska Primary Musical School. Aleksandra took part in many projects, international conferences and workshops in Poland, for example, the Polish National Youth Choir (2017, 2018, 2019). In 2019 she went to an exchange program with Tallinn Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, powered by NAWA – Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange. She works with children, teaches music in kindergarten and creates many theatres plays for children. She works on many theatrical performances organised by the Sound Factory foundation. She conducts the Meloman Choir and works as the conductor’s assistant in the Fenix Choir in National Forum of Music in Wrocław, Poland. She’s taking part in many musical projects as a choir and small vocal ensembles soprano singer in Wrocław and different cities all over the country. She founded many social and musical activities in Wrocław, in Pan Tadeusz Museum. She’s a very energetic and active person, full of ideas for many musical activities.

MARZENA HORYZA

FLUTE AND EUROPEAN ORCHESTRA DIRECTOR / Poland

Marzena Horyza is the Director of the European Curse of the Vampire Orchestra. In education and music activities her main instrument was and still remains the flute. She is the initiator and co-organizer of the SLOT Art Festival, which has been held for almost 30 years in Poland, currently in Lubiąż. She is also the director of the SLOT Art Orchestra, for which Philip Shorey wrote his “Nosferatu” music and which had the privilege of presenting its premier performance. She has co-created music formations such as: “E-band” (pop-rock), “Cross Acoustics” (illustrative poetry), “The Origin” (Hebrew music)  and “Body Moving to Soul Therapy” (acid jazz-trip hop). Currently, besides the orchestra, her main musical project is the band “Rainforest” (art-grunge-core).

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