2PiX

2PiX (pronounced Twin Peaks) is a composition by Mateusz Smoczyński inspired by David Lynch's cult series Twin Peaks. Classical music runs through it alongside jazz and blues — the orchestra is treated classically, while the solo parts draw richly on improvisation and on techniques native to jazz.

The piece is built on a Manichaean dualism: the luminous violin stands for nobility and euphony, the dark tenor saxophone for unease and dread. The concerto opens in a dreamlike, seemingly harmonious world that grows steadily darker. The middle movement is a musical portrait of Laura Palmer — an emotional, romantic and at the same time unsettling love theme, closing with a haunting image of her death. The finale, full of energy and unexpected turns, contains a fugue as a symbol of the many strands of Lynch's world.

Mateusz Smoczyński and Branford Marsalis met years ago on a project in which Marsalis appeared as a guest alongside Anna Maria Jopek. An artistic friendship and an unusual musical understanding grew between them there and then. They met again a few years later, when Branford came to Poland for his own concerts. It was then that Smoczyński handed him the score of his concerto for violin and saxophone, 2PiX. The piece met with Branford's great admiration; he agreed to perform it together with its author, praising his exceptional gift for melody and his virtuosity on the violin.

The two artists first shared a stage a year later, in 2024, at the festival in Radziejowice, with the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw conducted by Michał Klauza. The concert was an enormous success, drawing a record audience, and Jazz Forum magazine named it Event of the Year.