He lives in Kraków, where he graduated from music high school in 2008. He later took up studies in music theory at the Kraków Music Academy – he graduated with distinction in 2013, with a thesis titled About Time in Différance for 2 Pianos and Percussion by Wojciech Ziemowit Zych. He also began studying composition whilst at the academy. In 2013 he commenced his doctoral studies, in which he is further exploring music theory.
Despite his deep interest in theoretical issues, as a composer he does not pay special attention to creating a music system. As he says, he 'focuses on tuning the radars of his intuition.' The main areas of his musical interests include the tone and energy of sound, as well as gesture. His compositions usually involve recordings on which musicians improvise on their instruments according to Roemer’s guidelines. He later processes this material, turning it into the basis for an electronic soundtrack. In this way, he does not avoid the element of chance, but introduces it in the pre-compositional layer, or to the stage of collecting the initial material.
Roemer’s first significant composition was Tango sonore (2009) which received an honourable mention at the Call for Sounds competition of the Warsaw Autumn festival. In 2011 he presented his next piece, Tesla for two saxophones. In it, Roemer manifests his interest in the spatiality of sound. The score for Tesla was written in a way that reflects the specific panoramic effect that takes place when the volume on one speaker is turned lower and simultaneously turned up on another one, thus creating the illusion of the sound moving across the room.
Between 2013 and 2014, Piotr Roemer was on a scholarship in Lisbon, where he further investigated electronic music. During the residency, he created the composition Sin Palabras, described by the author as an electroacoustic narrative poem. In this piece, he focused on the tension between the abstract and the referential, introducing a narration akin to literary storytelling.
In his creative work, Roemer values contact with material sound, which is why he prefers to work in an electronic studio rather than with traditional scores.
Selected works:
- Tango sonore, electroacoustic composition (2009)
- Trio for a Table and Prepared Scissors for two violins, double bass, and live electronics (2011)
- Tesla for two saxophones (2011)
- Project: Tesla for electroacoustic soundtrack and improvising musicians (2011)
- Re-Sublimations for string orchestra and percussion (2012)
- Soneostasis for chamber ensemble and electronic media (2013)
- Sin palabras, electroacoustic narrative poem (2014)
author: Paweł Krzaczkowski, January 2015, transl. AM