Dobrawa Czocher | State of Matter

State of Matter, Dobrawa Czocher’s latest project, is music born from observing the sea. The daily presence of the Baltic became the starting point for her reflections on change – both the constant transformations of nature and those that each of us experiences throughout life. The sea is never the same. Its colours shift with the light, the weather, and the seasons. At one moment it is calm and transparent; the next, restless and unpredictable. In this perpetual transformation, Dobrawa Czocher found a powerful metaphor for the human experience.

In Szczecin, this way of thinking about water feels especially familiar. Here, the river meets the sea, and the landscape is shaped by the Oder, Lake Dąbie, canals, islands, and the Szczecin Lagoon. For centuries, water has been the route through which people, ideas, and culture have arrived. The city itself is constantly changing, just as its harbour landscape continues to evolve. It is no surprise, then, that the musical world of State of Matter feels so at home here, on the banks of the Oder, where movement, flow, and openness are part of the city’s identity.

The album’s title can be understood in many ways. It refers not only to a “state of matter,” but also to the state of a human being – our emotions, memories, and imagination. Each composition leads us through experiences of uncertainty, longing, courage, and inner transformation. The distinctive sound of Dobrawa Czocher’s cello, enriched by Natalia Czekała’s subtle electronics and synthesisers, creates music that exists somewhere between classical music, ambient soundscapes, and contemporary electronic music.

Dobrawa Czocher is one of the most widely recognised Polish cellists and composers of her generation. She has gained international recognition both through her own artistic projects and her long-standing collaboration with Hania Rani, with whom she has performed on leading stages across Europe, North America, and Asia. She also shares a special connection with Szczecin. Between 2018 and 2023, she served as principal cellist of the Szczecin Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, and it was here that her artistic journey towards composing her own music truly took shape.

She will be joined by Natalia Czekała – pianist, composer, vocalist, and music producer. After seventeen years of classical musical education in Poznań, Warsaw, and Vienna, she chose her own artistic path, combining classical training with improvisation, electronic music, and theatre. She is the founder of the ethno-jazz ensemble T/Aboret, with whom she released the album Cyjanotypia, and as a composer she has created music for more than thirty theatre productions, performative readings, radio dramas, animations, and short films.

This is an invitation to experience music inspired by life by the water. It is a reminder that change is not something to fear. Just as the sea is always in motion, so too are our lives, constantly taking on new forms.