At that time, Orzechowski toured Taiwan, accompanying Mexican musician Victor Mendoza, and Ecuador, performing alongside Spanish saxophonist Perico Sambeat. A little while later, he took part in Dorota Miśkiewicz's Piano.pl project, and in 2016 he became a member of a quartet formed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Jazz Juniors Festival, joining Leszek Możdżer, Marcin Wasilewski and Paweł Kaczmarczyk. In 2017, Pianohooligan appeared numerous times with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, AUKSO Chamber Orchestra, Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia Varsovia as a soloist.
The year 2017 was marked in his career by an exceptionally generous number of releases. At the beginning of the year, the Polish musician joined a trio originating from Ecuador, led by bassist Daniel Toledo. Together they recorded an album entitled Atrium. Later that year, Pianohooligan and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra performed Henryk Wars' compositions on Henryk Wars: Utwory Symfoniczne (Henryk Wars: Symphonic Works). In the autumn, Decca Records released Orzechowski's next solo album, 24 Preludes & Improvisations, which brought him a nomination for the Fryderyk Award in the category of jazz artist of the year.
High Definition Quartet’s next album, Dziady (Forefathers' Eve), released in 2019, received great acclaim. The artists processed themes from the second part of Adam Mickiewicz's drama into an image composed of jazz and electronic elements. The electronic part was created in collaboration with such artists as Krzysztof Knittel, Igor Pudło (Skalpel), William Basinski, Christian Fennesz and Robert Rich. Dziady was proclaimed the album of the year by many magazines and websites. In the same year, the premiere of Works for Rhodes Piano & Strings took place. On the album, Orzechowski – accompanied the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra conducted by Marek Moś – interpreted four works for Rhodes piano written by Zygmunt Krauze, Aleksander Nowak, Marcin Stańczyk and Sławomir Kupczak.
Piotr Orzechowski has collaborated with giants of music like Philip Glass and Krzysztof Penderecki, and many other prominent figures of the jazz world, such as Randy Brecker, Avishai Cohen, Perico Sambeat, Victor Mendoza and Jacek Kochan. Pianohooligan also worked with stars of popular music – such as Adrian Utley of Portishead, Skalpel or Natalia Nykiel. He performed with many other original artists, such as Adam Bałdych, Agata Zubel, Marcin Masecki, Carlos Zíngaro, Oleś Brothers, Motion Trio, Sławek Jaskułke, Bartosz Chajdecki, Cezary Duchnowski, Paweł Mykietyn, Janusz Muniak, Adzik Sendecki, Ganavya, Dorota Miśkiewicz, Michał Urbaniak, William Basinski, Fennesz and Krzysztof Knittel.
Pianohooligan performs from the classical repertoire as well. He cooperates with such Polish orchestras as Sinfonia Varsovia, Capella Cracoviensis, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra.
Piotr Orzechowski has made many concert appearances in Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, India, Kuwait, Qatar, Ecuador and China. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.
Discography:
- Pianohooligan – Experiment: Penderecki (Decca, 2012)
- Piotr Orzechowski, Marcin Masecki, Capella Cracoviensis directed by Jan Tomasz Adamus – Bach Rewrite (Decca, 2013)
- High Definition Quartet – Hopasa (EmArcy Records / Universal Music Polska, 2013)
- Daniel Toledo with Piotr Orzechowski & Joshua Wheatley – Elapse (USFQ College of Music, 2014)
- Pianohooligan – 15 Studies for the Oberek (Decca, 2014)
- High Definition Quartet – Bukoliki (For Tune Records, 2015)
- Daniel Toledo Trio & Pianohooligan – Atrium (For Tune Records, 2017)
- Polska Orkiestra Radiowa directed by Michał Klauza, Piotr Orzechowski – Henryk Wars. Utwory Symfoniczne (Polskie Radio, 2017)
- Pianohooligan – 24 Preludes & Improvisations (Decca, 2017)
- Piotr Orzechowski / AUKSO/ Marek Moś – Works for Rhodes & Strings (ANAKLASIS, 2019)
- High Definition Quartet ft. William Basinski, Igor Boxx, Fennesz, Krzysztof Knittel, Robert Rich – Dziady (ANAKLASIS, 2019)
- Daniel Toledo Quartet – Fletch (For Tune Records, 2020)
Piotr Orzechowski’s website: www.pianohooligan.com
Updated: April 2021