Bio >
Tomasz Mońko PhD - organist and improviser, electronics designer and programmer
His interest in organ music and construction of the instrument began early in his childhood. Music instantly became a passion of his life, which later evolved into his choice of profession: being an organist and teacher. He is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Łódź, in the organ class of professor Mirosław Pietkiewicz, and has participated in many seminars and consultations.
Throughout his childhood he was fascinated with issues associated with electricity, electronics, physics and computers. On his own, and with his father's support, he developed skills and knowledge in all these areas. He learned to write simple programs when he was only a few years old, thanks to access to the physics lab at the Technical University of Łódź, which gave the base for further development.
These interests and passions have finally merged into a dissertation on the history and future of organ building and key/stop action. The dissertation went further into use of innovation-enabled electronics and computers. As a part of the dissertation project, Mr. Mońko designed and built a prototype of the key-action supporting device. His dissertation was given the highest score possible.
His awarded doctoral thesis entitled "Innovative Means of Artistic Expression in Pipe Organ Music Literature and Improvisation Achieved Through the Use of Mechatronic Programmable Key Action Control System" continued research in this field. It involved the design and construction of a complete prototype pipe organ equipped with autonomous mechatronic valves. The artistic part of the thesis was recorded on this instrument. The recording consisted mostly improvisations on chorale themes and presented newly discovered means of artistic expression.
Mr. Tomasz Mońko performs concerts which concentrate on the Baroque repertoire and which feature his own modern organ improvisations. He has also served as a lecturer of liturgical accompaniment and organ improvisation at the Academy of Music in Łódź. Through the years, he has been filling orders for design, construction and programming contracts of various digital devices and more complex electronic systems. Currently he conducts classes in a field of embedded systems, computer control and robotics at one of the universities in Łódź.
In 2012, he co-founded a company named T2Logic, to create innovative solutions for and refinement of existing instruments. One of the first projects from this partnership is OrgNG, which is a comprehensive new generation control system for pipe organs. Mr Tomasz Mońko works as a electronics designer and software developer creating innovative solutions and the refinement of existing organs. In 2016, in one of the churches of Gdynia, he created the first system in Poland which provides wireless connection for an ensemble of two pipe organs and two separate consoles.
|