Simultaneo Vocal Octet
The ensemble was founded in 2015. It specialises in performing contemporary and early music. The octet has performed at the opening concert of the 67th 'Warsaw Autumn' International Festival of Contemporary Music at the Warsaw Philharmonic, the NOMUS festival in Novi Sad (Serbia), Skálholt Summer Concerts (Iceland), Sönghátíð í Hafnarborg (Iceland), as well as at the Early Music Festival in Haapsalu (Estonia) and at the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of Polish Radio in Warsaw, the Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa (Estonia) and the Musiikkitalo Music Centre (Helsinki).
The ensemble has premiered numerous works by composers such as Helena Tulve, Uģis Prauliņš, Alberto Schiavo, Aleksandra Vrebalov, Anna Rocławska-Musiałczyk and Piotr Salaber. Oktet Simultaneo has also collaborated with many outstanding instrumentalists, including the NeoQuartet string quartet, Krzysztof Urbaniak, Maria Pomianowska, the Silva Rerum arte historical instruments ensemble and others. In February 2024, Simultaneo released an album recorded for Polish Radio entitled Nowe oblicza tradycji (New Faces of Tradition), featuring works commissioned from contemporary composers for the Biłgoraj suka and vocal octet.
The founder and artistic director of the Simultaneo Vocal Octet is Karol Kisiel, a graduate of the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk and the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn, winner of a scholarship from the Minister of Science and Higher Education for outstanding young scientists, a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for the promotion of culture, and the Estonian President’s award for the best university graduates in the country. He is employed as a professor at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, and also collaborates with the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk. Karol Kisiel is also the founder and president of the Fundacja Polihymnia, which promotes vocal music.
[2026]