Michał Pepol

Michał Pepol - a cellist, composer and arranger. A versatile, classically trained musician who doesn't limit himself to genre boundaries, an artist eternally hungry for new experiences and original combinations. He is the author of two solo albums – "Kora ∞" and "Cellotapes" – and numerous other projects. As a chamber music teacher, he greatly values working with young musicians, which resulted in the founding of the Pepol & The People ensemble in 2025. With the Royal String Quartet, of which he was a member for 28 years until the spring of 2026, he has traveled the world and recorded over 20 albums. Recognized at numerous competitions and festivals, Michał has also been nominated for the Onet "Olśnienia" Award and the Koryfeusz Muzyki Polskiej Award in the "Personality of the Year" category.

In 2022, Michał made his solo debut with the album "Kora Nieskończoność" (Agora Muzyka), which contains unknown and unreleased recordings by legendary Polish rock star Kora Jackowska and received enthusiastic reviews: "On this album, Michał Pepol is not only a musician and composer, but also a wizard" (Mariusz Szczygieł); "I know Kora so well that I can confidently say that she would love Michał himself and immediately include him in her universe" (Kamil Sipowicz, Kora's husband). The album was named one of the 10 best Polish albums of 2022 by the weekly Polityka, TVN 24, and Onet. "This is a unique, multidimensional, and innovative release" (TVN 24); "An unpredictable and original sonic portrait of Kora, created at a time when it seemed no one had anything more to add about her" (Gazeta Wyborcza); "Pepol managed to make Kora's voice, her singing, and her speech freely transcend the boundaries of worlds and locate themselves in infinity" (Polityka). For this album, Michał was nominated for the Koryfeusz Muzyki Polskiej Award in the "Personality of the Year 2022" category. In 2023, the album was released on vinyl with guest appearances by Ralph Kaminski, Magdalena Cielecka, and Baasch.

The cellist's latest solo album, "Cellotapes," was released in 2024 by Polish Radio and was nominated for Onet's "Olśnienia" Award. It is a personal story of an artist for whom music is a boundless landscape of forms, genres, and means of expression. "Cellotapes" is a collection of works for cello and electronics (formerly tape). It's also a play on words: the title simply means "adhesive tapes," and Michał's intention is for these "tapes" to be an idea that unites works of various genres into a coherent whole: Bach vs. contemporary times, the recording premiere of Paweł Mykietyn's famous composition, iconic works of European and American minimalism. And - above all - new, original music. Pepol is the creator of projects such as "Sound Regained" in collaboration with Paweł Bownik (Nowy Teatr, 2016), "The Silence of the Sirens" in a duet with Magdalena Cielecka (commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, 2017), and "Among Angels" (2017), filmed in the Biała Forest. He also invited the great Polish singer Sława Przybylska to create the sound installation "We Stand Under the Walls of the Ghetto" (Jewish Historical Institute, 2022).

He composed the music for Markus Öhrn's plays "Three Episodes from the Life of a Family" (2021) and "Phobia" (2023), and since 2015, he has performed in Krzysztof Warlikowski's play "The French." Michał also writes music for films ("Gość" by Zuza Solakiewicz, 2024) and for Television Theatre ("Pewność" directed by Błażej Peszek, 2025).

Michał co-created Ralph Kamiński's album "Kora," and this project, which won the 2021 Fryderyk Award, has performed at over 50 concerts. With the Trimagine trio, he won Second Prize and the Czesław Niemen Special Award at the Polish Radio "Nowa Tradycja" Folk Festival in 2019, where his unique arrangements were recognized.

Pepol has performed worldwide and collaborated with numerous artists: with Bartek Wąsik he co-founds the duo Dwóchgłos, and has also performed with Natalia Przybysz, Mela Koteluk, Piotr Zioła, Kuba Krzewiński (DVD "Contre" for Bołt Records 2019), Patryk Zakrocki, Olga Mysłowska (album "Leggerezza"), and the band Kompopolex. He has performed at numerous festivals, including Warsaw Autumn, Off, Męskie Granie, Nostalgia, Ephemera, Pomada, Enter, Słuchy, Etno Kraków, Tranströmer Days, Crazy Days of Music, and the Festival of Premieres.

He is a frequent guest on Polish Radio 2 and has recorded recitals for TVP Kultura, where he curated the "Kultura Live" concert series. He also programmed concerts at the Warmia-Masurian Klangor festival and co-hosted the Kwartesencja Festival for 20 years. In 2022, he received an artistic scholarship from the City of Warsaw for his own festival, Dotykafonie, and has also received numerous scholarships from the Association of Polish Artists and Crafts (ZAIKS). Since 2003, he has taught chamber music at the Karol Szymanowski Music School in Warsaw.