Amalia Umeda is a Polish violinist, improviser, and composer.

 

She is the leader of the Amalia Umeda Quartet, co-created with Franciszek Raczkowski (piano), Michał Aftyka (double bass), and Michał Szeligowski (drums). In 2022, the band's debut album titled Nowoświt was released, co-produced by Polish Radio Program 2. The quartet was selected for the prestigious Footprints Europe program, which resulted in an international tour promoting the album.

 

During NOWOŚWIT tour, the band performed at festivals such as Jazztopad Festival, Letnia Akademia Jazzu, Cologne Jazzweek, Oslo Jazzfestival, Umeå Jazz Festival, and Jazzahead Showcase, as well as in concert halls including NOSPR in Katowice, NFM in Wrocław, Victoria Nasjonal Jazzscene in Oslo, and BIMHUIS in Amsterdam. She is also a co-creator of the Umeda/Aftyka duo, which performed at the European Parliament in Brussels last year.

 

She is the first violinist of ÄETHER, a French-Polish string quartet. The ensemble also features Aleksandra Kryńska (violin II), Maëlle Desbrosses (viola), and Adèle Viret (cello). The project was commissioned by the Jazzdor Festival and International Jazz Platform. The quartet has performed at festivals in Germany, France, and Poland.

 

Amalia is also a member of Maciej Obara’s Bluish Landscapes, an ensemble featuring Maciej Obara (saxophone), Sissel Vera Pettersen (voice), Amalia Umeda (violin), Anna Szmatoła (cello), Dominik Wania (piano), Adam Jędrysik (guitar), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (double bass), Audun Kleive (drums), and Even Røstad (live remix/electronics). The project premiered during the festival TOAST Tomasz Stańko in Warsaw. She is also part of the Big Banda project led by Kamila Drabek.

 

In 2023–2024, she toured with the Australian ensemble Hand to Earth in Australia, the United States, and Canada. The group includes aboriginal Yolŋu songkeepers Daniel and David Wilfred, Korean-Australian vocalist Sunny Kim, trumpeter Peter Knight, and clarinettist Aviva Endean. Her concerts at the Jazztopad New York Festival were featured in The New York Times, and she has collaborated with artists such as Marta Sánchez, Stephan Crump, Jim Black, Lesley Mok, Hamid Drake, Michael Bates, Ole Morten Vågan, Vladyslav Sendecki, Nikola Kołodziejczyk, Dominik Wania, and Atom String Quartet.

 

She received Third Prize, the Audience Prize, and two special awards at the International Zbigniew Seifert Jazz Violin Competition, and is a recipient of the Młoda Polska 2025 scholarship awarded by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

 

She is also the first jazz violin lecturer at the Academy of Art in Szczecin.