About Zazula
Poland and Ukraine are like two tributaries of the same river. We are united by centuries of common
history, shared cultural traits and professed values. We wanted to join forces and reach to our mutual
heritage by refreshing the skills associated with folk singing in its traditional form, which is white
singing.
– Anna Zagórska
– Anna Zagórska
History
The Zazula music band was founded in October 2017. Its origins date back to 2015, when Aleksandra
Myczkowska-Ćwiek and Anna Zagórska decided to meet to learn the basics of white singing
technique. Magdalena Krakowiak quickly joined the group. As an exercise in stage familiarity, the first
recital of Zazula was organized already at the beginning of 2018, which took place in the Old Town in
Warsaw at the "WASZA" restaurant. In the course of time, the ranks of the band were joined by:
Karolina Włodarczyk, Anna Łukawska and Anna Kushnir, until the idea of recording the first songs was
formed. Since the material was met with great interest and positive reception, in 2017-2020 the
band focused on improving its vocal technique and further work on its voice. In July 2018, Zazula
organized vocal workshops and invited to Poland Ms. Irena Slywczuk from Ukraine (a long-time vocal
teacher of Anna Zagórska – vocalist and co-founder of Zazula), who works with the Cultural Center in
Rivne, is the founder of the traditional singing group "Sielska Muzyka" and sings in EtnoXL (a folk-rock
music group known throughout the country). In 2020, Zazula was offered the opportunity to work
with Enej band, which led to the recording of three songs for Enej's new album "A Skiela Wy?”. In July
2020, after the difficulties of the pandemic, the band managed to sing at a concert in Olsztyn to
promote the new album of the Enej group. For 2 years Zazula took part in more than forty concerts,
performing, among others, twice at the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole and concerts
organized by Polsat Television (Polsat) and Polish Television (TVP). Zazula has performed with such
artists as: Enej, Halina Mlynkova, Zakopower, Ciupaga, Marta Zalewska and Sylwia Grzeszczak.
Until January 2022, the band was exclusively vocal. In 2022, an instrumental section joined Zazula
and the whole band started working on the first vocal-instrumental album, scheduled for release in
the fall of 2023.
White singing
The technique of white singing is particularly associated with Slavic countries and countries of the so-
called Middle East. The tradition of white singing rooted in folk music implies the development of this
technique mainly in the circles of amateur bands and movements, which is why this singing is not
professionally taught in schools. The technique of white singing goes back not only to the roots of the
vocal performance of simple folk music. Above all, it stimulates primal instincts that unite all
audiences in an unconscious way, allowing them to break away from reality for a while. The
combination of such music and image (in a manner appropriate to the nature of the project),
produces an effect that is incommensurable with traditional or entertainment musical instruments.
This technique is also still alive in Polish folk life, but it is gradually disappearing and is associated
with only a few regions in Poland, and the very term "white singing" has become incomprehensible
to most people.
Symbolism
"Zazula" in both Polish and Ukrainian means cuckoo. In many cultures, cuckoos have been given
different meanings. In Ancient Greece, the cuckoo was a sacred bird. In Slavic culture, it was believed
that the souls of the dead took the form of a cuckoo, and feeding them was part of the rituals
associated with ancestor worship. This is why figurines of these birds were present on the graves of
the first Slavs. Small indentations were often gouged in graves to collect water so that these birds
could drink it. Crumbs and grain were also poured into those indentations. According to folk beliefs,
the cuckoo arose from an enchanted maiden who was hiding from her fiancé in the forest, while
cuckooing was an expression of longing. In the language of ancient Slavs, "cuckooing" also meant a
mournful lament after the death of a loved one. It was believed that the cuckoo shed tears by
emitting its voice, while the bird itself possessed divination powers by foretelling the future for
young maidens. Cuckooing was believed to signify the number of years left for a maiden to marry.
Older people looked for the number of years left to live in the "cuckooing," while young married
couples believed it also foretold the number of children they would live to see.
Members
Anna Zagórska
Born in Novgorod Volynsk, Ukraine. In 2016, she graduated from the Music
Education Department of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, majoring in choral
conducting, and from the Rivne State Humanities University (Ukraine), majoring in pedagogy and
music. She completed a five-year study-practice at the Ethnographic Cultural Center “Vesnianka”,
where she sang as a soloist in two folk ensembles. In 2016-2019 she worked in the State Folk
Ensemble of Song and Dance “Mazowsze” as a singer with dance duties.
Aleksandra Myczkowska-Ćwiek
Born in Warsaw. She graduated from the Ignacy Paderewski Private
Music School of the 1st and 2nd degree in Sulejówek in the violin class of Professor Marzena
Bajkowska. In 2015, she graduated from the Department of Music Education at the Fryderyk Chopin
University of Music in Warsaw, majoring in choral conducting. In 2012-2020 she was a teacher of ear
training and music auditions, and since 2017 she is the head of the choir and instrumental ensemble
at the Private Music School in Sulejówek. In 2015-2017 she was the director of the amateur choir of
employees of the Polish Ministry of Justice. From 2015 to 2020, she worked at the State Folk
Ensemble of Song and Dance “Mazowsze” as a singer with dance duties. Since 2019, she is a singing
instructor at the “Lazurki” Children’s Folk Ensemble.
Magdalena Krakowiak
Born in Skarżysko-Kamienna. She graduated from the Zygmunt Noskowski
State Music School of the First Degree in Skarżysko-Kamienna in the class of piano and transverse
flute, and the Ludomir Różycki State Music School of the First and Second Degree in Kielce in the
class of transverse flute. In 2018, she graduated from the Department of Music Education at the
Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, majoring in choral conducting.
Karolina Włodarczyk
Born in Tarnowskie Góry. From 2006 to 2011 she danced in the Song and
Dance Ensemble “Little Silesia” under the auspices of ZPiT “Silesia” named after Stanisław Hadyna. In
2015, she graduated from Journalism and Social Communication at the Social Academy of Sciences in
Warsaw. In 2016-2019 she was employed as an instructor of classical dance, contemporary dance,
folk dance and Pilates and strengthening exercises at the School of Dance “Twist”. From 2011 to
2020, she worked at the State Folk Ensemble of Song and Dance “Mazowsze” as a singer with dance
duties.
Anna Łukawska
Born in Warsaw. In 2013 she graduated with honors from the Fryderyk Chopin
University of Music in Warsaw, in the clarinet class of Professor Mirosław Pokrzywiński. She has won
many awards at clarinet and chamber music competitions and festivals. She has performed as a
soloist with, among others, the Polish Radio Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of the Fryderyk
Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and the Orchestra of the State Folk Song and Dance Ensemble
“Mazowsze”. In 2009, she was a winner of the “Young Poland” scholarship program of the Minister of
Culture and National Heritage. From 2013 to 2020 she was a choir artist in the State Folk Song and
Dance Ensemble “Mazowsze”, where she honed her vocal skills under the supervision of Professor
Izabela Kłosińska. She performed solo parts both in works from the “Mazowsze” repertoire, as well as
in works by W. A. Mozart, G. Pergolesi, S. Moniuszko and A. Vivaldi. From 2012 to 2018 she was a
dancer of the Folk Dance Ensemble “Warsaw” of the Academy of Physical Education in Warsaw.
Anna Kushnir
Born in Iziaslav, Ukraine. In 2011 she graduated from the Music School in Volochysk,
in the class of piano and vocals. In 2014-2017, she was a member of the Folk Dance Ensemble of the
Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. In 2017, she graduated from Cultural Studies,
(specialization: film studies and theater studies) at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. From
2017 to 2020, she worked at the State Folk Ensemble of Song and Dance “Mazowsze” as a singer with
dance duties.
Jarema Jarosiński
Born in Warsaw. Graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw
(2018). He works with many theaters and symphony orchestras throughout Poland. To his credit, he
can record arrangements for, among others, the Sinfonia Varsovia Wind Quintet, Aga Zaryan, Jan
Młynarski, Sławek Uniatowski, Katarzyna Cerekwicka, Dziołak/Stankiewicz Duo, Chopin University Big
Band, with which, with a modest contribution, he is co-creating the album “Cinema Boogie” (2021).
He is the author of arrangements for musical performances entitled: “Love is me…” realized by the
Warsaw University Song and Dance Ensemble “Warszawianka” and “Ball 1850” directed and
choreographed by Jan Gałasiński. Percussionist at the winner of the National Festival of Polish Song
in Opole (2022 edition) – Karolina Lizer. Musical director of the Folk Artistic Ensemble “Promni” (since
2018), which for almost 50 years has been cultivating Polish folk culture in both traditional and
stylized terms.
His output includes more than 200 arrangements and compositions defined in a variety of music
genres (classical, popular, folk and contemporary) and a magnificent range of performance
apparatus: from chamber ensembles to ensembles of several members, and symphony orchestra.
Many of them were performed in places special to Polish culture and the arranger himself: at the
National Philharmonic, Polish Radio, the headquarters of Sinfonia Varsovia, the Presidential Palace,
the ROMA Music Theater, the Kamienica Theater, the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, the Music
Academy in Bydgoszcz, the University of Warsaw.
Since January 2022, pianist and composer in Zazula.
Krzysztof Łochowicz
electric guitar
Paweł Puszczało
bass guitar
Wojciech Bylica
drums
Jakub Ćwiek
manager
