About
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Opalińska & Whates Biography
Opalińska & Whates. Both versatile and strikingly original musicians, Mira Opalińska (piano) and Douglas Whates (bass) have performed together in many different settings—their musical paths crossing on projects ranging from contemporary classical to European jazz—this duo emerging as the solution to a common desire to perform music with a pure, intimate dialogue.
Theirs is duo of equality and balance in which both improvising instrumentalists choose neither to compete nor vai for attention, but rather expound and converse as one. Brought together by a common aesthetic—not least that music should be deeper than arbitrary patterns of notes—it is that which fuels their inspiration today; here are two musicians, each with distinctive yet complimentary voices, whose sensitive approach and evocative harmonic language combine to conjure music from an enticing palette of the subtlest hues.
Mira Opalińska Biography
Mira Opalińska (b. 1982, Rzeszów, Poland) is a unique and engaging pianist based in Poland with over fifteen years experience performing in a variety of musical settings: from classical chamber music and concertos to jazz groups and big-bands.
A prodigious talent, Mira gave her first major solo performance in the Rzeszów Philharmonic Hall aged eleven, entering her first major competition shortly thereafter—the International Chopin Piano Competition in Göttingen, Germany. Laureate of many international competitions, her formative years saw her give numerous performances on the European concert and competition platform as well as broadcasting on national television and radio (TV Polonia, TVP Rzeszów, RP Rzeszów).
By the turn of the new millennium, Mira was expanding her horizons and exploring improvisation. In 2001 she was accepted to Poland’s most prestigious jazz institution—the Bednarska Jazz School (PSJ) in Warsaw—studying with the internationally recognised pianist Andrzej Jagodziński. Under the watchful eye of this renowned pedagogue, Mira immersed herself in the country’s rich jazz scene.
A move to Scotland in 2006 heralded a new stage in Mira’s burgeoning international career, the ensuing years also providing a period of continued study at the University of Strathclyde from where she graduated in 2010 with 1st Class Honours. Returning to Rzeszów in 2011, Mira continues to draw on her grounding in both classical and jazz disciplines, with regular performances in the UK and her native Poland.
‘Technically very able—she plays classical recitals as well as jazz—she solos without any grand displays of technique, preferring clear, melodic developments of the original themes and a refined choice of notes.’
- Rob Adams (The Herald)
Douglas Whates Biography
Douglas Whates (b. 1981, Ipswich, England) is a composer and bassist of British, German and Italian descent. Spending his formative years in the UK and the Middle East, he began his musical education aged 9—studying trumpet, piano and later guitar—his focus ultimately migrating and settling on double bass in his mid-twenties.
A gifted composer, he studied contemporary classical composition with Dr. Gordon McPherson at the RSAMD, graduating in 2004 with first class honours. He has had major works performed by the London Sinfonietta, Hebrides Ensemble, Paragon Ensemble; and cites the theme music for Nemesis Inferno—one of the UK’s most advanced roller coasters—as one of his more unusual commissions. His compositions are regularly performed throughout Europe and beyond.
As a bassist, his output encompasses a wide gamut of genres—ranging as it does from the classically informed World music of the uniquely constituted acoustic chamber ensemble Frevo Quartet, to an original take on European jazz with the Mira Opalińska International Quartet. Also with pianist Opalińska, Lumière is a new duo CD which explores and reflects upon the rich tapestry of cinematic composition.
‘ (…) a soulful piece, beautifully written, richly evocative of solitude and with an unforgettable melodic line that stretched like an upward gaze into the night sky. Some seriously impressive writing here.’
- Michael Tumelty (The Herald)
