PL Michał Wierba
(also known as Mike Verba) – Polish pianist, composer and producer, PhD in music and the winner of more than 20 most important Polish and European music festivals. Wierba has more than 600 concerts played and over 20 albums recorded under his belt, as well as a worldwide cooperation with the most influential Polish and foreign artists. He is also a forerunner in using ROLI Seaboard in Poland – the brand new electronic instrument that is conquering today’s world! Appreciated for his virtuosity, piano technique and charisma, Wierba immediately wins the audience with his positive energy, passion to music and characteristic stage presence.
Although Wierba started playing piano quite late at the age of seventeen and nobody expected him to have a promising future, the artist begun musical studies at the Katowice Academy of Music in Poland after only two years of playing just to win the most important festivals in Poland and perform on European stages during the couple of next years. For over 10 years now he has worked internationally (Poland, Netherlands, Scotland, UK, USA, Spain, Ukraine) performing and recording with the main jazz and world music and contemporary artists, such as: Michal Urbaniak, Dante Luciani, Marek Bałata, Marek Piekarczyk, Piotr Baron, Maciej Sikała, Flavio LiVigni, Francesco Angiuli, Przemysław Strączek, Zbigniew Wodecki, Wojciech Myrczek, Karo Glazer, Leopold Kozłowski, Piotr Wojtasik, Jakub Żytecki, Damian Ukeje, Sebastian Perłowski czy Marek Stryszowski. In addition, the musician cooperates with Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Cracow and multimedia project Filharmonia Futura.
In 2017 Wierba begun his collaboration with the legendary American jazz and world music drummer Ronnie Burrage. The artists have toured Poland and USA togetghers four times, playing at such famous venues as: All Souls Jazz Festival in Chicago, Smalls Jazz Club in New York and prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. The fruit that this cooperation and friendship bore is the album ,,Holographic Principle” that is going to be released in 2019.
Wierba has appeared in the main Polish and international press and media, such as Jazz Forum, Jazz Press, TVP Kultura or Glasgow Herald for many times. The concert at Polish Radio ,,Trójka” was webcast, recorded and released as Wierba’s ,,Body Language” album, becoming the part of his PhD thesis at the Academy of Music in Cracow. The album won many enthusiastic reviews from critics and is appreciated by audiences thanks to its attractive repertoire that presents Wierba’s piano virtuosity with collective and his ability to involve and engage the listeners in his performance.
Couple of years ago the artist met young Polish vocalist and performer Mag Balay connected with the world of indie pop and world music. Working on her debut album ,,No borders”, they became partners both on stage and in their private lives. Influenced by Balay, Wierba has turned his interests to new technologies, soundtrack music and science fiction and fascinated by these new possibilities he started his adventure with ROLI Seaboard. Invented in 2013 in London, this instrument is a combination of keyboard and touch-pad. Wierba became the precursor of its use on the Polish music scene. Together with Mag Balay Wierba is working on the new multimedia project and album inspired by the power of nature and the world of new technologies. At the same time the musician continues his jazz career, preparing his first solo piano release.